The Origins of Danny Phantom
by FlikFreak
Summary: It was just a typical Saturday in the Fenton household. At least, it should have been. After the Fenton Portal seemingly breaks down, Danny decides to take a closer look, only to find that the portal didn't take him to the ghosts...it turned him into one.
1. From Normal to Chaotic

Uhm…hi? (sheepish wave) I'm FlikFreak. Some of you may know me, some of you…might not. I've always held a small interest in Danny Phantom, but my interest was recently perked up big time, and then this idea came to mind. I always enjoy watching pilot episodes of any TV show and whatnot, but I never really saw anything that included how Danny first got his powers aside from the intro. I know there's probably a billion other fics like this, but…yeah. I had to get this out of my head. And stuff. I hope it's okay. (scampers off)

* * *

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part One: From Normal to Chaotic**

* * *

It was a normal Saturday morning in the Fenton household. Jazz had left to go out with her boyfriend, and Danny was alone in the kitchen shoving spoonful after spoonful of soggy cereal into his mouth while his parents downstairs were working on their newest invention, the said work usually involving several loud booming noises coming from the basement and the occasional explosion. Sure, it wasn't quite as typical as most other families of the current generation, but to Danny this was all completely routine. On occasion he could even predict the timing of each individual crash that came from the laboratory underneath their home.

_BANG!_

Yep. Typical Saturday morning, all right.

Danny sighed as he heaved another spoon full of fruit loops in his mouth. It tasted like sawdust. He couldn't believe that on Saturday, of _all days_, he had run out of things to do. Saturday was sacred; there was no school to take up seventy-five percent of your free time and suck you dry. He was completely bored, and that in itself was just not right. Normally he'd go hang out with his friends, but Sam was babysitting and Tuck was visiting with his grandmother. It didn't help that there was a thunderstorm coming either, and to top it off the local movie theatre was closed for renovation. The new video game he was waiting to get was releasing next week, so there was no reason to visit the local GameStop, either.

He probably would have gone out with some of his other friends, but he was often teased at school for his parent's obsessions, even though he himself wasn't too keen on it either. Sighing, he shuffled to the sink to wash his bowl and put it away. He'd probably just go upstairs to his room and find something to do there.

"Danny! Could you get us the extension cord?"

"Coming, Mom," he answered, groaning. Helping his parents wasn't exactly on the top of his 'fun things to do on Saturday list,' but it was better than sitting around doing nothing. After putting his bowl in the sink, reminding himself to wash it later, he made his way over to a cupboard nearby and pulled out a large, heavy-duty extension cord. They usually came in orange, but the black one was all the store had left at the time they decided to buy one. Not that it was important or anything; Danny was just pretty observant of things like such.

Hefting the cord on his shoulder, he made his way down to the basement laboratory. Normally the lab was off-limits unless his parents needed something, but that was fine with Danny since he never really liked going down there much anyway. Sure, he was always pretty curious about what happened down there, but he also knew that whatever happened in the lab was the cause of his major lack of friends aside from Sam and Tuck.

After pushing open the door to the lab, Danny was met by the sight of his parents welding a few edges on an enormous cylindrical…thing. He honestly didn't know how to describe it; it reminded him of a jet engine on an airplane, only it was a bit smaller and less…rounded. The first thing that Danny managed to say was, "What is that?"

Danny's father, Jack, proudly swept one arm to the side as though he were presenting the object in question to an entire crowd. "This is the Fenton Portal!" He announced grandly.

_Oh, _that _explains everything,_ Danny thought sarcastically, one eyebrow cocked. _Could I get more than just a name, please?_

Thankfully, his mother was a bit more practical on the subject and always knew when to explain things. "We've been working on a portal to the Ghost Zone for some time now," she explained. "We'll finally be able to prove that ghosts are real!"

_Ghosts again?_ Danny grumbled inwardly. His parents had always had an odd obsession with them. Banshees, poltergeists; you name it, they knew them. Danny never fit into this niche of his family: while everyone was smart or crazy in some way, he was completely normal, and never once had an A or B on any test in his entire life. Thankfully, he never got lectured on it since his parents were always buried to their necks in their obsessions, but it didn't make it any less of a burden. Deciding to leave his exasperated thoughts for later, he held forward the extension cord to his father. "You needed this?" He asked.

The object in question was snatched out of his hand in an instant. "Thanks, Danny," he heard his father reply before he headed to the wall to plug it in.

As Jack unraveled the rest of the cord, Maddie turned off her welder and exited the miniature tunnel she had created. "Danny, we're about to turn it on. Do you want to watch?"

Danny was, to say the least, extremely doubtful. Ghosts didn't exist. A portal like this couldn't possibly work. Even so, he did have some sort of interest. His parents seemed incredibly excited about this project of theirs, and he didn't have anything better to do that day. He nodded. "I don't see why not."

"It might be dangerous," Jack warned with his customary flamboyant flair. "You should put on a hazmat suit."

As though his mood couldn't be killed any more, the raven-haired boy spared a skeptical glance at the white jumpsuit at the back of the room and sighed, pulling it on and completing it with a pair of black boots and gloves. He felt insanely ridiculous, but he knew better than anyone that a bad fashion statement was better than being fried by some crazy invention.

"This is it!" Maddie exclaimed excitedly. "All of our years of hard work are finally paying off!"

Jack grinned, holding up the plug for the machine and the end of the extension cord. Everyone carefully braced themselves as he plugged the machine in. The electrical hum of the Fenton Portal filled the laboratory, music to the man's ears. A blue light in the back of the portal flickered on, and the machine revved to life. The light grew bright and brighter…

…and then it all stopped.

The Fentons stared at the machine blankly. It had started up just moments before, and seemed like it would actually work as planned, but nothing happened. Jack sighed, his shoulders drooping in disappointment. "I was sure it would work," he moaned. "We quadruple-checked our calculations!"

"It's probably something else, dear," Maddie insisted, smiling her usual way. "Maybe the storm blew one of the fuses.

Danny shuddered, sparing a glance at the portal. For some reason, he had a feeling that his parents were wrong. That thing _had_ to be working. Everything was in place. They were missing something, he knew that, but he also had a strange feeling that it wasn't quite what they were thinking of.

"It's probably the extension cord," Jack said as the group headed back up the stairs. "We'll have to go by the store and pick one up."

"And some spare fuses," Maddie added. "Even if that's not the problem we'll still have a use for them."

"Alright," Jack replied, convinced entirely. "Danny, do you want to come along?"

"No thanks," Danny replied. Sure, if this whole mess hadn't ended up like this he probably would have been bored enough to comply, but seeing as he wasn't keen on being seen in public with his parents (didn't they _ever_ take off those suits?), and he had other matters on his agenda now, like looking at the portal. Seeing his parents upset over their failure was disheartening for him; even though his mother maintained a much more positive outlook on it and his father was an easy man to cheer up, it was tough to see him down at all.

"If you say so," his mother replied, getting the keys from the key rack and heading out the door behind Jack. "We'll pick up dinner, so don't worry about finding any leftovers except for lunch; we'll probably be gone most of the day. Be sure to clean up your room, and if Jasmine comes home, tell her where we went, okay?"

Danny nodded. "Okay."

"Oh, and Daniel," His mother added, peeking from behind the door, "Be sure to change out of that jumpsuit. Those are _very_ hard to clean, and I don't want you getting it messy."

He nodded again, smiling weakly. "Okay, mom."

Maddie smiled and left. Once his parents had closed the front door, Danny felt his curiosity pique once more. After watching the car leave the driveway and take off down the street, he made his way back down the stairs to the basement door, opening it casually and stepping in. The lab was strangely quiet when his parents weren't home. Nothing in it was running – mainly for safety precautions. The newly-built portal on the wall didn't even work, so there was no way it could be turned on.

But it was still plugged in.

Assuring himself that something that didn't function couldn't be a danger to him, Danny stepped forward, pulling on a pair of black gloves just in case. The portal was like a miniature tunnel that only spanned a few yards and didn't go anywhere. The walls were designed as such that he felt like he was inside a giant computer (which technically he was), and at the end of it was some sort of blue, spherical device. _Probably where the portal shows up at,_ he thought as he calmly walked in, feeling along the wall to his left for support. The entire device, though Danny wasn't always keen on his parents' inventions, was rather impressive. It must have taken them ages to build it, much less figure out how it would work. He started to feel a bit bad for them. Maybe all they needed was a replacement part; a better plug, a computer chip, a smooth round object that felt like a…

…wait.

Danny froze as the machine began to hum quietly, picking up in volume. The blue object at the end began to light up and pulse. Panicked, Danny swept his gaze to where his hand was, and found it right on top of a large green button that read "ON." Eyes widening in fear, Danny quickly made for the large red "OFF" button next to it, pressing it several times in rapid succession. Nothing happened to change the current situation. His stupid parents didn't program the power switches right! The only solution he could think of was to unplug the entire machine to force it to power down. He was making his way to the exit when the doors slammed shut, trapping him inside. It didn't take a genius to know that this wasn't going to end well.

The blue light at the end of the portal flickered ominously. Danny felt a wave of relief; the machine still wasn't working properly. Maybe all he had to do was get the doors open and he'd be home free. He made his way over to them, pulling and pushing and shoving with all his strength…but nothing happened. They were stuck fast. Danny had a sinking feeling; he knew he would be in a heap of trouble when his parents got home. He threw his hands in the air in disdain. "This is just perfect," he grumbled to no one in particular. "I have nothing to do on Saturday of all days, and now I'm stuck in a defunct ghost portal! This place is supposed to be off limits in the first place, anyway! Mom and Dad are going to kill me…"

To make matters worse, he could still here the storm raging on outside. A loud crash of thunder reached his ears, much louder than it usually was, though it was probably because he was so frantic everything seemed more vibrant and loud than it really was. Only mildly startled by the sudden burst of lightning, Danny continued to search for an escape. Unfortunately, he didn't find one. He had no choice but to either wait until his parents returned to fix it or break it open and risk getting into even more trouble than before.

He had nearly resigned himself to his first option when the machine fired up unexpectedly, this time louder than ever. The blue light began flashing, unstable for a while, before lighting up completely. Danny pressed himself against the sealed doors in hopes that they would open in time to escape. Unfortunately, they didn't. With a hard swallow, the boy began uttering as many oaths and prayers as he could; if he was going to end up dead, thrown into another dimension or worse, he didn't want to go out without a few last words.

There was a flash, and something slammed into him. Whatever it was, it was unbelievably _cold_, like someone had just dragged him way too deep into the Antarctic Ocean. An eerie green light exploded from the once-blue node at the back of the portal, filling every bit of his vision with an unearthly glow. An odd tingling sensation, much like when his foot fell asleep, swept over his entire body, gradually numbing him all over. Danny then heard a mechanical _whoosh_ as the doors on the Fenton Portal finally opened. He would have scorned his luck, but given his current situation he barely even thought about it. He felt himself being thrown backward, skidding across the floor to a stop. Darkness quickly overtook him and his head slammed into the wall and his progress was halted.

The last thing he saw were all of the lights flickering off in the laboratory, and the doors of the now-functioning Fenton Portal closing tight.

* * *

Don't hurt me! (cowers)


	2. A Rude Awakening

So, uh...here's part two?

* * *

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Two: A Rude Awakening**

* * *

On any typical Saturday, Danny would have probably come home from the mall, the arcade, or the movie theatre by now and be hanging out with his friends. But his friends had not been around today, and thus he was stuck at home doing anything to occupy himself. When this happened, he would go and play video games. Instead, however, he had decided to satisfy his curiosity by getting an up-close look at his parents' new invention. Not only did he sate his curiosity, but he had been nearly frozen to death, numbed, and thrown across the room, not to mention knocked out cold.

_And speaking of cold,_ he thought as he slowly regained his senses,_ I feel like I've been stuffed into a freezer._

He was still lying on the floor of the basement lab, his head against the wall nearest the door. For some reason he didn't hurt, but he quickly attributed that to the fact that the pain had probably subsided while he wasn't fully awake. As he dragged his eyelids open, he noticed that the room was completely dark aside from the odd green glow that was everywhere he looked. He felt like he was watching one of those old exorcism videos that his father used to watch; only it was in his vision rather on a screen. _Maybe it's from whatever concussion I had when I hit the wall,_ he thought firmly.

He glanced around, hoping that everything was still in order in the house, aside from the lights being unnaturally dim. The portal doors were apparently closed, which was different, but the device seemed to be off, so he didn't worry about it. _Besides, it doesn't work. So long as I don't walk inside it, nothing would go wrong._ None of the other objects in the room seemed to be harmed, and the wall behind him didn't seem damaged, so Danny began heading upstairs. The portal was obviously a bit too dangerous to investigate, and he resigned himself to needing some sleep to clear up his vision.

He was nearly to the staircase to his bedroom when he passed by the clock in the living room. Danny quickly did a double-take. _Five-nineteen?! How long was I out?_ He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was barely ten-o'clock when he woke up, and it hadn't been that long after when the incident occurred. _How hard was I hit anyway? I was out for…_he counted mentally_…seven hours? Geez, no wonder it's so cold in here. The power's been out all day; I bet the heater was fried, too._

Danny was nearly to his bedroom when two soft glows from nearby caught his eye. Looking to the side at one of the family photos hung on the wall by the stairs, he noticed two bright, green orbs staring back at him. When he inspected closer, he noticed that the two orbs were not only eyes, but they were also part of his reflection. Screaming in shock, he tumbled backward, aiming to grab onto the hand rail behind him, only to find that he fell _through_ it and onto the floor below.

"Geez," Danny grumbled out loud. "What gives? The house is freezing cold, the picture frame is haunted, and I'm falling through a staircase. This has got to be the world's worst concussion…" Continuing his mumbling, he headed upstairs, straight for his bedroom. _I should probably get a shower before I get into bed,_ he thought, exhausted. _Who knows how dirty I got when that thing blew me into next week?_

But when he reached for the door to the bathroom, nothing happened.

Danny did a double take. Not only was his hand going _through_ the doorknob to his bathroom, but the glove he had been wearing before was _white_. To top it off, the rest of the hazmat suit he had been wearing had completely reversed colors. He rolled his eyes. _Great. I'm seeing myself in negative now. Is there anything worse that could happen?_

After a few more tries, Danny finally managed to open the bathroom door (after making a mental note that something so simple shouldn't be such a chore to pull off) and stumble in, but before he could even make his way to the shower faucet he caught another pair of green orbs in the mirror. Though once again startled, Danny didn't fall over this time. He instead stood perfectly still, eyeing the green orbs in the mirror suspiciously. They didn't move.

_Okay, this is creeping me out._ With a deep breath, Danny slowly inched toward the mirror. The green glowing orbs moved with him, and at the same speed. It was only when he got close enough to the mirror that he realized that the orbs _weren't_ orbs.

They were his _eyes._

Danny could hardly believe what he was seeing in the mirror. He knew he was seeing himself, but he was…different. The Hazmat suit he had been wearing was in reverse of what it had been when he put it on, white turned black and black turned white. His eyes were green – a glowing, _neon_ green – and his hair was stark-white. He was even had a subtle white glow about him. Danny blinked in disbelief. "This can't be _me_!" he exclaimed. "It's impossible!"

The sound of the front door opening suddenly became Danny's worst nightmare, and when that sound reached his ears he yelped. "Danny! I'm back! Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Oh great," he muttered. "Jazz is home…" Not that he minded his big sister, but he couldn't let her see him like this. The girl's footsteps echoed as she climbed the staircase. Danny pressed himself against the door, hoping to keep his sister out, only to fall _through_ the doorway as though the door wasn't even there. He scrambled to his feet and was about to head back for the bathroom when his vision faded out again, leaving him in total darkness. Two seconds later, the light flipped on, and he saw his sister standing in the doorway, giving him one of the most puzzled expressions he'd ever seen in his life. Instantly, he waved his arms in front of him. "S-Sis! This isn't what you think it is!"

Jazz only stared at her brother in disbelief. "Well, it looks to me like you were either sneaking around the lab or you decided that jumpsuits were your new fashion statement."

Danny blinked, glancing at his hand. The glove was black again, and the rest of the hazmat suit was the way it truly was. His sight was even back to normal (which nearly gave him a reeling headache), and it wasn't quite as cold in the room anymore. Looking back at his sister, he smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I-"

"Oh, forget it," the girl mumbled, heading down the hall. "I have research to do. Get some rest; you look like you've seen a ghost."

_Oh, the __**irony**__,_ Danny thought, disgruntled, standing warily and heading for the bathroom again. He reached cautiously for the door, eyeing it as though it would lash out at any second, before grabbing it with a death grip and wrenching the door open. Thankful that the doorknob had not evaded him as it had done earlier, he made his way inside, once more looking in the mirror. Nothing was different; he was looking at the same Daniel Fenton that had gotten trapped in the Fenton Portal and nearly killed when he was hurled across the room.

"Well, I guess the concussion wore off," he muttered, partially glad and partially still freaked out. He knew in the back of his mind that whatever had just happened was _real_. Groaning, he headed for the kitchen. Injured or not, at least the food in the fridge wasn't a hallucination.

* * *

The rest of the evening, much like the morning, was exceedingly dull. Danny ended up cleaning his room purely for lack of anything better to do, though he was slightly less depressed. At least Sunday was consecrated in its own right, but he still had to go to bed on time. Danny was actually, for once, looking forward to going to bed. He still had a bit of a headache, and every now and then he would get those same chills from the incident.

Fortunately for Danny, Sunday was a bit more eventful. The movie theatre was still closed for renovations and wouldn't be open until later that week. Sam and Tuck, however, were free of their other activities and the group decided to head to Nasty Burger for lunch.

"Rebecca is such a _pain_ to babysit," Sam practically wailed before taking another bite of her burger. "By the time I was done I would have taken some peace and quiet as payment."

"Tell me about it," Tuck groaned. "Grandma went on for ages about the old days and stuff. She still can't figure out how to set the time on her VCR, either."

"Didn't she read the instructions for that?"

"She thought they were some kind of advertisement and threw them out."

Danny barely had a grasp on the situation. He sat with his head propped up on his hand, staring blankly into open space. It didn't take long for his friends to notice. Sam casually waved a hand across her friend's face. "Hello? Earth to Danny?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's great…"

Tuck rolled his eyes momentarily before eyeing his friend in suspicion. "Um…Danny? Are you feeling okay? You haven't even toughed your lemonade."

_Yeah, I'm fine. In fact, I'm so fine that last night my eyes were glowing green, my hair turned white, and I kept running through stuff. I couldn't even open the bathroom door because my hand went right through it. Yeah, I'm perfectly _fine_, guys!_ "Not really…"

"You don't look so good," Sam commented. "What's going on?"

"My parents finally got the Fenton Portal finished," Danny explained mildly, "But when they tried to start it up they thought it broke so they left to go to the store and get a few parts. I went to go take a closer look and apparently, they hadn't even turned it on."

Tuck laughed. "I can't say I'm surprised," he said. "Leave it to them to forget something so simple."

Danny nodded. "Well, I went to turn it on and I got stuck inside. I think something hit me and I ended up with a concussion. I kept seeing green and I looked really…different. I think it was just a really weird dream or something, but it seemed so _real_."

"Definitely the concussion talking," Sam muttered. "Shouldn't you be a bit more careful around your parents' inventions?"

"You got that right," Danny replied, groaning miserably. He reached for his lemonade and picked it up, hoping that maybe a sip or two would help ease the stress. He was about to take a drink when it unexpectedly fell out of his hand and spilled, aimed straight for Sam. _What the-_

Sam made a mad dash out of her seat before she became soaked in Danny's once-appealing beverage. "Danny! What was that for?"

Danny barely heard her. He was staring in disbelief at his hand, which he could see straight through. Moments later, it was back again, perfectly solid. He was snapped back to reality with one of Sam's trademark death glares, and he waved his hands defensively. "It was an accident! I'm sorry! I-"

"Danny, what is _wrong_ with you?" Sam demanded, more concerned than angry. "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

_That's because I think I just did!_ "Ah, well…"

"I'm sure it was just a mistake," Tuck cut in, saving Danny the agony of explaining that his hand had somehow turned invisible when it was supposed to be the concussion that made him dream that. "Maybe he's just tired."

Danny groaned. "I have no clue," he replied, staring at his hand in a mixture of awe and fear. "I'm not even sure if I actually dropped that thing."

"Then what _did_ you do?" Sam asked, crossing her arms.

_This isn't going to be easy._ Danny opened his mouth and began to explain when a cold chill ran up his spine. He jumped slightly, eyes widening as he attempted to regain composure, only to see a strange stream of mist seeping from out of his mouth, as though the room had plummeted to temperatures below zero and now he was seeing his breath. The only problem was that it was _warm_ in the restaurant. He rubbed his head. "Great," he mumbled. "I think I've still got a concussion."

"Well, I'm done with _my_ meal," Tuck pointed out. "You guys want to go anywhere else today?"

"I feel terrible," Danny replied.

"That doesn't exactly answer the question," Tuck grumbled, "But I'm assuming that means 'no,' doesn't it?"

Danny shook his head. "I should probably go home and get some more rest," He insisted. "I think this concussion is still affecting my brain."

"It must be affecting mine, too," Sam replied, her eyes wide in shock. "Is something wrong with your eyes, Danny?"

The raven-haired boy stiffened. _My eyes…last night, they…_ "Let me guess," he started. "They're green?"

"Yep."

"Neon green?"

"A glowing, eerie neon green."

Danny immediately pushed himself up, making to leave. Unfortunately, his arm went through the table, causing him to not only lose his sense of balance, but also his sense of vertigo, thus he fell gracelessly to the floor. The incident was immediately followed by a short bout of laughter from the other customers, two blank stares from his friends, and a very sore back. After standing back up, Danny swiftly reached into his pocket and placed a ten dollar bill on the table. "Leave the change for a tip," he called before racing out the door.

Sam and Tuck exchanged glances.


	3. Avoiding Exposure

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Three: Avoiding Exposure  
**

* * *

Danny ran home as quickly as he could. Things were suddenly completely out of hand. Not only did he _know_ that his eyes were green just like last night, but dropping his glass and falling through the table had confirmed that he hadn't just reached the wrong place for the doorknob last night. Whatever was going on here had something to do with that portal he accidentally turned on. If he could find a way to reverse it, maybe he'd be able to stop whatever was happening to him.

Reaching his house only took less than five minutes, but it felt like centuries had passed him by. Danny charged through the front door (but not literally; to his relief the doorknob did not resist him). Thankfully, no one seemed to be home, thus he quietly made his way to the laboratory. He quickly noted that most of the lights in the house were out of commission, and the green in his vision had returned. Though he wasn't fond of it, Danny decided that it was better than stumbling through the lab in the dark, especially considering the incident the day before. The first sight he was greeted with when he entered was the portal, doors still shut. Danny made his way to the control panel next to the portal, only to find it even more confusing than one of Mr. Lancer's pop quizzes.

"Wonderful," he groaned. "How am I supposed to work this thing if I can't even make out what it does?" Danny glared at the portal as though it was the source of all of his problems – though technically it was – and began to head out when he caught his face in the mirror near the sink. Now it wasn't just his eyes that were different, but now his hair was white and he was wearing the inverted hazmat suit again. _Just like last night…_

"You sure it's okay to barge in like this?"

Danny froze. Tucker's voice echoed all the way down to the lab. Panicking, he dove behind a pile of boxes as Sam's voice also resounded. "He left the front door wide open. I'm pretty sure the one that barged in was him."

"Well, he did seem like he was in a hurry."

"He was. If I nearly spilled lemonade on my friend, found out my eyes were glowing green and made an idiot out of myself in public, I'd probably run for it, too."

"The basement staircase is open. Maybe he went down there." Footsteps. Danny cringed, doing his best to cower behind the pile of boxes, the sounds reaching the lab.

Sam looked about in bland surprise. "Whoa. The lights are out."

"I guess the storm last night shocked all of their light bulbs down here out of commission," Tuck replied, shrugging. "But the rest of the machines in here are unaffected. I can see all the lights coming from them."

"There's light coming over from those boxes, too."

"There is?"

Danny gulped. _Busted._

"Yeah. Over here." The two walked toward him. Danny winced, shrinking back. His _body_ was glowing, too? He couldn't believe this! Whatever that portal did to him, he had to reverse it, and _fast_. Living like a freak didn't really seem appealing, especially when he already was at the bottom rung of the social ladder thanks to his parents' ghost obsession.

"Hang on, Sam. Whatever's in there is probably radioactive or…huh?"

"What the…it's gone?"

Danny spared a look at his hands. No white gloves; just plain old hands. His vision had gone dark again. He sighed in relief, and immediately bit his tongue.

"Danny, is that you?"

With a guilty look, Danny peeked out from behind the boxes at his friends, whom were staring at him rather blankly. With a weak smile the young Fenton waved back. "Hey, guys," he greeted them rather weakly. "Sorry about all this, the lights are out and all…there are flashlights to the cabinet on the left."

There was a rough sound of a door opening and several metallic clangs and a stream of light illuminated the room. Danny emerged from the pile of boxes and headed over to the group, grabbing his own flashlight and switching it on. "Um, what are you guys doing here?"

"You were acting really weird at the restaurant," Sam replied. "We were _worried_."

_You're not the only one…_ Danny sighed. He couldn't blame them; they were his friends. _I guess I might as well fill them in._ "Guys, take a look over there." He shone his flashlight over at the Fenton Portal nearby.

"What _is_ that?" Sam asked, staring at it incredulously.

"The Fenton Portal," Danny calmly explained. "The one I told you about. I don't know why the doors are closed _now_, but either way that thing _did_ slam me into the wall. I swear, that thing is sentient and has a strong vendetta against me or something."

"What exactly does it do?" Tuck asked.

Danny rolled his head. "Other than giving me a concussion, I think it plummeted the temperature in the entire house and flipped off the power."

"The power's fine," Sam replied. "The light bulbs were the ones that took the damage." She paused. "Whatever the damage was supposed to be."

Tuck tilted his head curiously. "There was a thunderstorm yesterday. Maybe there was a power surge or something."

"Powerful enough to bust all the light bulbs in the house?" Danny asked, doubtful.

"Well, if the portal gave you a concussion at the same time, then the storm might be what blew out the light in here."

Of course. He had heard that loud lightning strike outside right before the portal had started up and zapped him with whatever had caused all this madness. Maybe if he reversed whatever settings were on the machine and got another thunderstorm to start again, he could end this!

"But I don't see how it made the entire house cold, Danny. We're barely into September."

_That_ made Danny think. Maybe the whole being cold thing was part of the whole mess and not from the storm. Tuck was right; it shouldn't have been cold outside, so inside it shouldn't have been cold either. At the thought of it, a chill once again ran up his spine, and he thought he saw his breath in the air. "What the…"

A humming came from the portal, and for a moment Danny nearly relived the incident in his mind. Fortunately, he quickly snapped to his senses and stayed alert. As he and his friends looked on, the door to the ghost portal slowly opened up, revealing a twisting, brightly-glowing green light behind it. Danny quickly recognized it as the same color that his eyes were whenever they turned green, and judging by the looks on his friends' faces, they were thinking the exact same thing.

"Well, it looks like it's working," Tuck commented.

"Which I don't think is a good thing," Danny replied, casting a glance at his friends. "Did any of you feel a chill just now?"

"Not me," Sam said, shrugging. Tuck shook his head similarly.

Danny looked back at the portal, which was closing again. Maybe it was still broken? He was about to step closer and investigate when a strange hissing noise caught his attention. "Please tell me you guys heard that."

"Yep," Tuck replied. "A hissing sound, right?"

"I heard it, too," Sam said, agreeing. "Any idea what it was?"

"I don't know," Danny replied, "But I think whatever made that noise isn't in the lab anymore…"

The group headed up the stairs, flashlights in hand. Danny didn't quite think that it was as effective as whatever night vision he had possessed earlier, but neon green eyes would have caused a lot more confusion, so he gratefully resigned to using the device in his hand. Once out of the basement laboratory, the three made their way into the kitchen, only to find nothing there. Danny felt another chill up his spine, this one lesser so, but it didn't make him feel any more comfortable. "There it is again!"

"I didn't hear anything," Sam said flatly.

"No, not that! That chill!"

Tuck crossed his arms. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Danny began to protest, but he quickly hung his head, sighing. "I guess not…I feel terrible."

"You should get some rest," Sam suggested, apparently concerned. "Or you could see a doctor or something."

_Is there a doctor that can fix a problem with your eyes glowing, your hair turning colors, your limbs disappearing and your body glowing like a beacon?_ But even through his frustration, Danny nodded accordingly. "Yeah, I guess so…" He headed up the stairs wearily. "See you on Monday, I guess…"

* * *

To say that Danny was tired was a vast understatement. He was downright exhausted, unfortunately, as most of his energy had been spent panicking about what was happening to himself. He went to bed early without a single problem. On Monday morning, Danny somehow managed to force-feed himself his breakfast and trudge to school, barely noticing that Tuck and Sam failed to join him until he actually reached the first class of the day.

Unfortunately for Danny, it was English with Mr. Lancer.

_At least this is better than whatever happened on the weekend,_ Danny grumbled to himself. _I'll take an English test over being a freak any day._

On cue, an odd tingling crept up his arm. Thinking it had fallen asleep for a moment, he began to prop his head up with his other arm when he suddenly found himself falling forward, the side of his face slamming into his desk with a loud _thud_. The tingling in his arm stopped, but unfortunately he was experiencing a replay of his screw-up in the Nasty Burger. The only difference was that this time Sam and Tuck were even more suspicious, and Mr. Lancer was giving him _the look_.

"Mister Fenton," the pudgy teacher said in his usual droning monotone, "I know English can be a rather boring class, but that does not mean you may use my hour with you to sleep. Or play with colored contact lenses."

While the class laughed, Danny felt his stomach twinge. Not only had his arm become intangible for a moment, but his eyes had changed color again. He decided to lay low for the duration of the class, and charged out of the room at record speed the moment the bell rang, making straight for the bathrooms.

He was just rounding a corner when he slammed full-force into a very familiar red-and-white letter jacket which was most inconveniently attached to a person. Stiff blonde hair, blue eyes and some very intimidating biceps stared back down at him. Danny would have groaned in exasperation if this person wasn't his worst enemy. _Just what I need. I'm acting like a freak again and Dash has to be the one to screw things up even worse._

"Hey, Fen-toad," Dash mocked, barely noticing Danny's inward wince at the bully's unoriginality. "I got a 'D' on my Math homework, and you know what that means!"

_Oh, crud._

Danny yelped, running as quickly as he possibly could down the hall, this time to hide from more than one cause. The bathroom was no longer an option; he would have to find sanctuary somewhere else. Thinking quickly, he made his way to the cafeteria on the second floor, making a sharp turn upon entry and diving underneath a table. Dash halted in his tracks, his posse right behind him. There were a few shouts and the group spread out to search the area. _I can't hide here for long,_ Danny moaned, watching as Dash's feet approached the table he was hiding under. As the bully dropped to one knee, beginning to look underneath the table, Danny begin to feel his hand tingling again, only this time it didn't stop at his hand – it spread to the rest of him. There was barely time for a yelp of shock before Danny found himself falling.

The sounds of the cafeteria were gone, replaced by those of distinct silence. After recovering from a very sore rear, he managed to open his eyes long enough to see where he had ended up. Somehow, he had fallen through the floor and wound up in the boy's bathroom. Luckily, no one was there – at lunch time everyone used the bathrooms on the second floor – but it didn't set him at ease. There was a moment of stumbling around and Danny made his way for the bathroom mirror. Sure enough, his appearance had changed again, freaky eyes and all. He bit his lip; he had to fix this, and fast.

His thoughts were interrupted when a multitude of screams came from the floor directly above him. As though cued by them, a familiar cold feeling – this time much stronger – ran up Danny's spine, and for a brief moment he saw a stream of blue mist seep out of his mouth. He shivered, rubbing his arms momentarily before heading for the door. Before he could, however, he glanced at his hands, making sure they were still in one piece. They were. He grabbed the doorknob, running down the empty (thank heavens) halls to the cafeteria, peeking through the window at what positively horrified him.

There, hovering in the middle of the cafeteria was an enormous, eight-legged ghost.

* * *

You know how some say that cliffhangers are evil? This one is evil because I couldn't think of anything else.


	4. Of Discoveries and Ghost Fighting

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Four: Of Discoveries and Ghost Fighting**

* * *

Being at the bottom of the social ladder was one thing. Being at the bottom of the social ladder because of what your parents are into is completely unreasonable. It didn't help that Danny was also a freak now, but he didn't think it'd quite matter at the moment. There was a giant octopus ghost in the cafeteria, and it was terrorizing his classmates. Popularity could wait.

Silently hoping that a changed appearance would fool people into believing he was someone different, Danny walked through the open door and scanned the area. Everyone was running in a state of panic. His first instinct was to find Sam and Tuck. With all the students running around, however, he couldn't make heads or tails of anything. He was about to jump on top of one of the tables to get a better view when he noticed that the students had found something else to be scared of.

Him.

"_Two_ ghosts?!" Someone screamed. "Everyone, run for it!"

Danny bit his lip. _I'm worse than a freak. I'm a ghost!_

For a brief moment, Danny thought he was going to freak out as much as the kids running away from him when he suddenly felt a strange twinge of satisfaction. If people were _scared_ of him, they would leave him alone! It was perfect! Dash wouldn't bully him anymore, no more getting shoved into lockers…

"Get away!"

His thoughts were snapped back into reality when the familiar scream reached his ears. Looking near the corner of the cafeteria, Danny saw Sam trapped by the ghost. Everyone else had fled. Matters were only made worse when he noticed the ghost holding a table above her. Without thinking once, Danny raced forward, eyes wide in fear. "Sam!" he cried, hoping desperately that he would be able to reach her in time.

Sam's attention was diverted, and she gave Danny a look of shock and fear. Somewhere in the back of Danny's mind he knew she didn't recognize him, he knew she was scared of her own friend, but that didn't matter to him. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as he dove forward for Sam, hoping to at least shield her from the table that the ghost sent smashing down on them if he couldn't run.

The table slammed into the floor, splinters flying in every direction. Danny pried one of his eyes open to see that he had managed to grab Sam's arm and dive out of the way just before the table would have hit them. Sam jerked her arm away from Danny, still afraid but in a strange daze. "Who _are_ you?" She asked.

"A ghost apparently," Danny replied, a bit too preoccupied to explain to his friend his own identity. "Get out of here, Sam! Hurry!"

"Wait! How do you know-"

"Just run!"

Sam complied very quickly to the desperate request. She charged out of the cafeteria at record speed, leaving Danny alone in the room with the ghost. To his great dismay, however, the ghost quickly took off after Sam, and Danny was left in pursuit. The boy-turned-ghost took off after the eight-legged specter, only to find that it was far too fast for him. _I can't just keep running after this thing!_ He thought, feeling incredibly dismayed. Stopping in his tracks, Danny narrowed his eyes at the hallway where the ghost had disappeared. _Wherever Sam is, that ghost is bound to be after her. But how am I going to get rid of that thing if I can barely even keep up with it?! Come on, Danny, think!_

He glanced at the clock instinctively. There were only five more minutes left of lunch time. A few more classes left of the day and he'd have plenty of time to look up all this ghost mess at home, but first he'd have to take care of the school haunt.

An idea struck him like a brick wall. "That's it!" He mused aloud. "Alright, Danny, think like a ghost. What would a ghost do…"

It wasn't difficult to come up with something. Acting purely on instinct, he found himself soaring down the hallway at an amazing speed, keeping a close eye out for anything eight-legged and creepy. It was only when he reached the janitor's closet that he felt a chill run down his spine. _Again?! Where is that _coming_ from?_

It didn't take him long to find out. The ghost was in the closet, and Danny could just make out Sam hiding underneath one of the shelves. Whatever the ghost was after, Danny wasn't about to let it hurt his friends. With an oath, he dove toward the octopus and threw the hardest punch he could right between the monstrosity's eyes. The apparition flew backwards and slammed into the door, splattering into a mess of sticky green goo. "Can't say I saw that coming," Danny said, somewhat amused. "You can come out now Sam, I think the coast is…" He looked again. "…ghost-free."

"Except for you," Sam grumbled. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"I'll fill you in later. Get Tuck and head to the Nasty Burger after school. I'll meet you in the back where the dumpster is!" With that, Danny flew upward, smacking against the ceiling. "Geez…I still need to get used to this." Turning intangible, he successfully made his way upward through the roof, leaving Sam with a suspicious gaze.

* * *

Danny wound up locked in the bathroom for most of the day, counting the school bells while he waited for his appearance to revert to normal. It didn't. With a groan of exasperation, he made his way out of school discretely after the last period of school ended, keeping an eye out for Sam and Tuck. Fortunately, he found them before long.

"You're saying you met a _ghost_?" Tuck asked, apparently very suspicious.

Sam nodded, shivering a bit. "Yeah. It was really weird. He knew my name and saved me from that thing…whatever it was. He seemed a bit familiar, too."

Danny glanced up. Walking to the Nasty Burger wouldn't take long, but he could barely stand holding it off. He was about to go on ahead when he felt another bout of cold. Danny instinctively turned around, finding none other than the monster he thought he had demolished in the janitor closet, and it was headed straight for his friends.

_Looks like we'll have to speed this up a bit after all,_ Danny mused, _Though this isn't quite what I had in mind._ He dove down, grabbing his friends by their arms and taking off into the air again. "I hope you're not afraid of heights!"

The two stowaways didn't quite have time to protest when a roar reached their ears. "The octopus?!" Sam cried. "I thought it was gone!"

"That thing trashed the cafeteria earlier today!" Tuck added. "And my favorite seat was smashed!"

Danny would have grinned if he wasn't trying to leave the vicinity as fast as possible. "Sorry about that, Tuck."

"Tuck?" The boy echoed, turning to his friend. "How do you know my – you're the ghost that saved Sam!"

"Apparently," Danny replied, quickly returning to the subject at hand. "I don't think that octopus will follow us too far. We're getting out of here."

* * *

It really didn't take long to get to the Nasty Burger. Hiding out behind it wasn't something that Danny did every day, but he couldn't exactly go inside the building and talk about things while glowing like a beacon. Danny had taken a spot sitting on top of the dumpster, Sam leaned against the wall, and Tuck sat on a nearby wooden crate.

"Well, we got here safe and sound," Danny commented, rolling his eyes, "Not that it should have been dangerous. You guys okay?"

"I'll ask the questions," Tuck said, glaring at Danny. "Who are you, and where's Danny?"

This caught the ghost-boy by surprise. "What do you mean, what have I done with Danny?"

"He hasn't been seen since the whole mess with the cafeteria and that octopus thing!" Tuck replied. "You had something to do with it, didn't you?"

At this, Danny couldn't help but agree. He sighed, shrugging. "Yeah, I guess I'll have to confess. The reason that ghost was here and the reason I'm here like this is because of Saturday."

"Saturday?" Sam echoed. "What does Saturday have to do with this?"

Danny pushed himself off the dumpster and crossed his arms. "Honestly, do I look familiar at all to you?"

"Nope."

_Of course not. Danny Fenton doesn't have white hair, green eyes and a weird hazmat suit. He probably can't walk through walls and see quite as well in the dark as me either. But maybe…_ Danny grinned. "Yesterday, you two were at the Nasty Burger with me. I barely touched my lemonade, which I nearly spilled onto you." He pointed at Sam and continued casually, completely ignoring her wide eyes. "Then you both told me my eyes were green and I took of running. You tracked me down to the lab underneath my parents' house afterward and I showed you the Fenton Portal, which started this entire mess _on Saturday_. I didn't walk to school with you two this morning and I was humiliated in Lancer's class just several hours ago before lunch. Satisfied?"

There was a very brief moment of silence. Sam squinted her eyes a bit, as though trying to get a closer look. Only a second or so after she did, she blinked. "_You're_ Danny?"

"Yep," Danny replied. "I know it's hard to believe…but it's me."

"But how?" Tuck asked, completely puzzled. "You're a…"

"Ghost," Danny finished, rolling his eyes. "I know. But I wasn't a ghost earlier… In fact, I have no idea what's going on!"

"So you're the one that saved me from that octopus thing?" Sam asked. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"I was in a bit of a hurry," Danny replied easily, taking his place up on the dumpster again. "Besides, What are the chances that you would have believed me?"

"Good point."

"This is still just weird," Tuck pointed out. "I mean, why weren't you in class?"

Danny would have shoved his face into his hand if he wasn't afraid it'd go right through. "I can't go to class looking like this!" He groaned, staring at his gloves and boots. "White hair, freaky glowing eyes, glowing _body_, hazmat suit, I keep getting cold chills out of nowhere…anything I'm missing?"

"Your voice sounds a little bit echoy, but otherwise…yeah."

_Does Tuck _always_ have to do that?_ "That's not really helping…"

"But you did save the school from that octopus thing," Sam pointed out. "It can't be all that bad, aside from the fact that you can't go out in public like this."

"That's the thing," Danny replied, leaning back on his hands. "On the day it happened, I went upstairs and looked in a mirror and saw myself like this, but when my sister came in my room I was back to normal. Between then and now, it keeps showing up every here and there, but otherwise it didn't come completely back until now."

On cue, Danny felt his arms tingling, and found himself tumbling _through_ the lid of the dumpster and into the trash within it. "Okay, that's not funny. A little help here, guys!"

Danny did a double-take. His vision was completely devoid of…anything. It was completely black. He barely had time to put the pieces together when the lid of the dumpster opened and he saw Tucker reaching in to pull him out. Once free of the garbage, Danny quickly took a look at his hands. There were no gloves; just plan old unprotected, _visible_ hands. "Well, so much for going back to normal."

His left arm disappeared.

"Or not…"

"I don't know about getting you to normal," Sam began, "But if you can at least figure out how to control this stuff long enough for us to find a way to fix it, I think it'd help."

"You sure about that?" Danny replied, his arm thankfully normal again in time to rub the back of his neck in doubt. "I mean, I don't even know what's going on myself, other than apparently people at school thought I was a ghost."

"I don't know," Sam said, shrugging. "I'm just making suggestions."

"Gee, thanks…"

"Maybe it's all about focus," Tuck suggested. "That's how they did it in comic books and stuff."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," Danny said, agreeing. "In the meantime, how are we going to reverse this, let alone keep it under control?"

Tuck grinned. "I might have an idea, but I'll have to do a few calculations at home. In the meantime, work on controlling it…at least until we can make heads and tails of this."

Danny sighed. Tucker had a point. After all, if he could at least get a handle on all of this, maybe it would be easier to bear until they could get rid of it. Things could be worse.

Little did he know that they already were.

* * *

Chapter 4 End.


	5. Mirrored Encounters

Yeah...I know the title of this chapter is pretty stupid. I couldn't come up with anything else. Also, a quick note...there's a small twist I'll be adding to this. What could it be? I'll let you find out for yourselves.

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Five: Mirrored Encounters  
**

* * *

Danny stayed up late that night. It hadn't really hit him before that whatever had happened earlier had turned him into a form of ghost. After all, ghosts didn't exist – that's what he had thought for the longest of times – and if _he_ was a ghost, assuming he believed that, he would be dead. But he wasn't. He was perfectly fine.

Sighing, Danny shook his head of the thought. _Come on, all I got was a concussion. I didn't die or anything. Besides, I was okay when Jazz saw me later that night. Once we get rid of this I'll be perfectly fine. No falling through tables, no weird night vision, no freaky glow or anything else._ Even so, he knew that he was only fooling himself. Sam was right; if he was going to successfully get rid of this without drawing attention, he'd have to figure out how to control it.

_And that means using it,_ Danny concluded. He could clearly remember Tucker's words of advice and began to focus, quickly reviewing what had happened to him. He had changed in appearance, managed to phase through things, and had seen considerably well in the dark. It didn't matter if he was missing a few things; he'd get around to them if they showed up.

With a deep breath, he closed and locked his door. _Okay, first things first. Appearance. If people see that I'm different it'll make a huge mess._ He walked calmly up to the mirror on his wall and focused as hard as he possibly could. When nothing happened, he stared at the mirror as though the fault was with its reflective surface. "Come on, Danny," He groaned at himself, "You have to get this to work. If you can't figure out how to get it under control you'll be labeled a freak for the rest of your life."

"Oh, give me a break."

Danny did a double-take. There, in the mirror, was his own image, but instead of doing what he was doing, the image crossed its arms and glared at him in annoyance. The real Danny stared for a moment before attempting to come to his senses. After all, if he had managed to fight a ghost the day before and change appearance completely sporadically, this had to have come with the package _somehow_, even if it wasn't exactly a relief to have. "Wait a sec, what's going on?"

"You tell me," Mirror-Danny replied. "Getting control over those powers of yours can't be that hard. You're just not doing it right."

"But Tuck told me to focus," Danny insisted, somewhere in his mind feeling very silly for speaking with himself in a mirror. "If that doesn't work, what else will?"

Mirror-Danny nearly smirked. "Focusing _does_ work. You're just focusing on the wrong thing."

Danny rolled his eyes and flopped onto his bed. "Well, do _you_ have a better idea?"

"What about earlier when you fought that octopus?" Mirror-Danny suggested. "You seemed completely in control of everything there."

"Of course!" Danny exclaimed, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he remembered. "To _act_ like a ghost, _think_ like a ghost…that's the key!"

"There you go. Try it."

_Let's just hope it works._ Danny pushed himself off the bed (silently thanking himself for not falling through) and made sure that the door was locked and the curtains were closed. For safety measures, he also flipped off the light. Closing his eyes, he focused. _Okay, Danny. Be a ghost. Think like a ghost…and hope that this works._

There was an odd, spectral flash of white light. Momentarily, Danny cowered back, shielding himself from what was probably trying to hurt him. For a split second, it faded, and he was about to feel a wash of relief when he shook himself out of it. _No, Danny! Come on! You can't let it distract you! Keep trying!_ With that, he dragged his mind back into focus. The light brightened, passing straight over him. For a brief moment, it flickered brightly again, but then it once more dimmed.

Total darkness. Danny squinted, opening one eye. He could see…oddly, like before, but he could see. _At least I know I've got the eyes, but what about the rest of me?_ After a bit of glancing around to make sure he wasn't being tricked, he headed for the mirror. Sure enough, he had the complimentary white hair, hazmat suit and unearthly glow to accompany his green eyes. A grin of triumph spread across his face and he threw his fist in the air victoriously. "All right, I managed to go into it…so to get out, think like a person?"

"You tell me."

Danny did a double-take at the mirror, which was once again acting on its own agenda. "You're _still_ there?"

Mirror-Danny rolled his eyes. "Duh. Where else did you think I went?"

"I don't even know if you're really me," Danny grumbled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. "I look in the mirror and see myself. My reflection is giving me advice on how to control whatever's wrong with me. For some reason, I don't think this is me I'm talking to."

"Maybe, maybe not," Mirror-Danny replied, grinning knowingly, "But trust me; I'm only here to help."

"And how can I be sure of that?"

"Just thinking got you to go ghost, didn't I? Just think like a person again and you'll be back to normal. After all, if you can't get your appearance under control, this'll only get messier for both of us."

_And the appearance isn't my only worry…I still need to work out going through things, too. Besides, I doubt I'm goint to get any irrelevant answers out of whatever's playing with my mirror._ "All right…here goes." Once again, he closed his eyes as tightly as he could and focused, and once again the light appeared. When it faded, he opened his eyes to find that the room was in complete darkness. Flipping the light switch, he glanced at the mirror to find himself looking completely normal again. No hazmat suit, no creepy eyes, no white hair. Perfectly normal. "Whew…safe again."

"You're only just starting," Mirror-Danny pointed out. "Just keep your focus and you should be fine."

"_Should_ be?" Danny echoed, swallowing nervously.

The raven-haired boy's reflection shrugged. "You can't expect yourself to be perfect on the first go," he replied. "You still have a few other kinks to work out before you get a hand on this."

"How would my reflection in a mirror know about this?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes and heading for the bathroom to take a quick shower before getting some sleep. "It's like talking to myself."

Mirror-Danny grinned. "Maybe you are."

* * *

Danny woke up the next morning feeling oddly refreshed. He got dressed in front of the mirror – which, he noted, did _not_ act on its own accord like the previous night – and went through breakfast at record speed. The walk to school was slightly less lonely than the day before; Sam and Tuck joined him on the way.

Tuck was the first to speak. "Did you guys get enough sleep last night?" He groaned, stretching and yawning. "I've got a physical science test today and I was up late last night cramming."

"I went to bed early," Sam replied, somehow still looking half-asleep. "How about you, Danny?"

"I have no clue how long I was up," the boy replied, "But long story short, I think I've got a hand on this whole mess and I ended up talking to my mirror for a while."

"Mess?" Tuck began before Sam elbowed him with a glare. "Oh, right…you ganna be okay, man?"

"I think so," Danny replied. "You were right. It's all about focus. If I just think like a person I'll stay a person. For the ghost half it's the other way around. It's still hard getting used to, though…"

The conversation quickly ended, fortunate for Danny. In between classes that day he would head to the bathroom and make sure everything was normal with his appearance, just in case. He had a case of green eyes after third hour, but nothing major. It wasn't until fifth hour that anything really happened.

Danny had stopped by the bathroom again when he felt a very familiar chill run up his spine. A small and steady stream of blue seeped out of his mouth. He narrowed his eyes. _That's got to be a part of this whole ghost thing. I _know_ that chill was me and not the thermostat._

Deciding that this was too suspicious to leave alone, Danny changed and quickly checked in the mirror again. _Yep, pulled it off. Now to get through this place without being noticed…what was it the mirror told me again?_

The boy would have admonished himself for taking something so easily, but his reflection – whatever it was – had mentioned being in control when he fought the ghost the previous day. Whether he had imagined it or not, the point had been made. Struck with an idea, Danny focused, and his image vanished from the mirror before him. With a satisfied grin, he took off, heading through the wall (mainly to make sure he could do it) to the hallway. People were clearing out, and Danny quickly noticed that there wasn't much time left before fifth period started. _I'll have to hurry, then…_

Danny's first stop was the janitor's closet. The bits and remains of the ghost were gone. He wanted to believe that the janitor had cleaned it up, but part of his mind barely believed it. There wasn't a single trace of the ghoul left, and everyone knew that the school janitor didn't exactly excel at cleaning thoroughly. _Something is definitely suspicious here. I beat the crud out of that octopus yesterday. To see it completely gone without a trace should be good, but it's not. To top it off, whenever something like this starts to happen, I get that chill._

Slinking out of the closet, Danny checked the time on the nearest clock. One minute. Not good. _I can't go missing class, but it's not exactly a good thing to leave this unchecked. I can't let anyone get hurt._

There wasn't a disturbance of any kind, thus Danny ventured to some of the unchecked quarters of the school. His first stop was the teacher's lounge, which was completely empty. No ghost. His next stop was the computer lab on the second floor of the library. Racing at top speed through the halls, he made it to his destination, and he quickly found his target.

Unfortunately, his target's target was none other than Tucker Foley.

* * *

So...mister ghostie is back, and it's attacking Tucker now. Danny's mirror spoke to him for some odd reason. Chapter 6, anyone?


	6. Suspicion

Wow…I didn't think this would be quite that good. I'm glad I did well enough on this. Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome!

Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so short! I think it ended where it should.

* * *

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Six: Suspicion**

* * *

"We've looked everywhere. Phantom's still missing."

The air was cold. The wastelands, frozen. Deep in a cave, several humanoid beasts gathered. One in particular beast sat on what was apparently the high-seat, and he didn't particularly look happy. The room was, however, dark, and there was not much to be seen. "Have you searched Skulker's Island for evidence?"

"We have, sir. There's nothing to be found."

"Your Highness!"

Everyone's gaze swept to the entrance of the room. One of the smaller beastmen stumbled in, exhausted but not harmed. Dragging his gaze upward and falling to one knee, he managed to catch his breath before speaking. "I bring news, sir. Phantom hasn't been seen since that mysterious new portal appeared. He was being chased by one of the feral ghosts and possibly escaped through…"

"Phantom is in the human world?" The larger best exclaimed quietly, his eyes full of shock. "Do we know where he is?"

The scout shook his head. "No, sir. We sent an agent to look for him, but we can't find him anywhere, even though we sense him. We believed he may be overshadowing someone, but no one has been acting suspicious."

The leader rubbed his temples in contemplation. "Phantom won't have gone too far," he muttered. "Find someone to investigate the portal, but take extreme caution not to make yourselves known to any humans if you can. That feral probably escaped into the human world as well, and we can't risk any others following suit." He stood, exiting the room. "Everyone else, keep searching for evidence and meet back tomorrow. Dismissed."

The room emptied quickly, and the leader of the strange beasts stared calmly about the darkened room. _Phantom can't be taken down so easily; he must still be around. I'll need to speak with and old friend about this…_

* * *

"Tucker!" Danny cried. "What's going on here? Why aren't you headed to your next class?"

"I have fourth period free," Tucker replied frantically, "And I was using it to research a bit of ghost stuff!"

"I take it that this wasn't what you had in mind," Danny grumbled. "All right, we'll have to do this the hard way." He raced forward, aiming a punch at the multi-legged ghoul, only for it to catch him in mid-air and throw him across the room, sending him crashing into a table. Tucker didn't need a cue; he ran to the corner to hide behind a filing cabinet.

Danny sent another blow to his opponent, but things weren't looking good. It slapped him aside, sending him through the air and slamming into a few computers while he was at it before he regained composure.

"I don't think the school board will like this," Tucker commented, suddenly looking very weak-kneed.

The ghost sent another bow to the unsuspecting ghost boy. Danny slammed into the wall and should have cracked his skull, but he didn't. He didn't really worry about it, either. The ghost was coming at him again, and the computer lab was already more of a mess than he'd want to clean up, much less explain. "I'm taking this into the gym," he grumbled. "Tuck, get out of here!"

"How? The door's blocked off!"

He was right. That ghost was in front of the door. He'd have to lure it away somehow, and he had a plan for that. Grabbing one of the monster's tentacles, he became intangible and hurled both himself and the ghoul through the wall into the gym, forming solid again upon entry and watching the monstrosity slam into the bleachers, where it exploded into a mess of sticky goop.

Tuck was at loss for words for a moment before he fit the pieces together. "Good shot! You beat it."

Danny's suspicious gaze didn't change. "No, I didn't."

The boy's friend was about to protest when Danny held a hand in front of him, motioning him to retain silence. A few moments passed, and the goop reformed into the spectral octopus it was before, shrieking and fleeing the scene. Danny's eyes narrowed. "I knew it."

"I don't get it," Tuck commented. "You blasted that thing to bits! How did it come back?"

"The same way it came back after I beat it in the janitor's closet when it attacked Sam," Danny replied. "We need to get rid of this thing before it tries to hurt anyone else, and I think I might know how."

"Wouldn't that be kind of hard at the moment? We're still in school."

Danny's eyes traveled to the fire alarm. "Not for long, we aren't."

* * *

Danny, Sam and Tuck had gathered at the fence behind the school while the fire alarm was buzzing off. After quickly explaining the situation, they took off for Fenton Works and they charged into his bedroom, which was probably the safest place in the house aside from the lab (Danny didn't want to risk going down there; his parents were rather unpredictable when it came to their work), and Danny began pacing endlessly, having swapped out of ghost form.

"Skipping school to fix this mess might not be a good idea," Sam pointed out. "As much as it feels satisfying to me, it doesn't feel right."

"It's safer if we're not there," Danny replied. "That octopus thing is still running around. Every time I think I've taken care of it, it comes back. I know the portal downstairs has something to do with it showing up, I just can't figure out what. It zapped me and all that, but beyond there I'm really not sure." He glanced at the mirror oddly, expecting advice from it again. None came, both to his relief and his dismay.

"Well, it has _something_ to do with ghosts," Sam began. "The portal, I mean. If it basically turned you into a ghost, then maybe it's got a connection with the one that shows up at school. Besides, you know your parents…"

"Dad said something about it being a doorway to the Ghost Zone," Danny added, nodding in confirmation. "Maybe it came in from there. We should check it out."

The agreement was a silent one, but all three of them shared it. They headed quietly down the staircase to the now-lighted laboratory. "Looks like your parents fixed the lights," Tucker commented. "We won't need the flashlights anymore."

"Looks like the portal is up and running, too," Danny pointed out, obviously not very pleased. "I bet nearly killing me isn't the only thing it's capable of, after all."

Sam crossed her arms. "So, what do we do? Shut this thing off?"

Danny shook his head. "That octopus is nearly unstoppable. No matter how many times I get it between the eyes it comes back for more. We'll have to send it back where it came from, and that means leaving this thing on, at least until I can figure out how to do that. For now, all I can do is hold that thing off until I come up with something."

The sound of sirens passed overhead. "Those are probably the fire trucks headed for school," Tucker groaned. "We should get going before anyone notices we're missing."

"Right," Danny replied, nodding. The group began to ascend the stairs when another chill rose up Danny's back, and a complimentary stream of mist from his mouth accompanied the sensation. He sent a suspicious gaze to the portal, watching carefully for any intruders. When he didn't see or feel any, he shrugged and began heading up the stairs at a rapid pace.

Unknown to Danny, a strange being was peeking out of the portal at him. Red eyes narrowed in austerity, a violet cloak concealing most of his pale blue skin. The specter quickly retreated back from the portal with a satisfied frown. "Interesting," he muttered. "Very interesting…"

* * *

Chapter 7, anyone?


	7. To Capture a Ghost

And here's chapter 7! I can't reveal anything yet, other than things may not be quite as you believe them to be...

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Seven: To Capture a Ghost**

* * *

The group made it back to school just in time to head back inside for the rest of the day. Though Danny kept a close eye out at school for more signs of the ghost, it didn't show up anywhere. In spite of this welcome relief, he knew it wasn't safe; the ghost would be targeting the school again before long. He didn't have much to go on either; whenever he beat the creature it came back stronger than before. _But you can't kill a ghost,_ he mused, _Not really anyway. I think I know the person that can help._

After the group had parted their separate ways that day and Danny arrived at home, for the first time actually interested in his parents' occupation, though not in the way he probably would have expected. He made his way down to the lab and took a deep breath. _Dad's probably in here, as usual. He knows plenty about ghosts…_

Sure enough, Danny's father was at the table working on yet another invention. Sheepishly, Danny made himself known. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey there, Danny!" Jack replied. "You're just in time. Check it out; the portal's working, after all!"

At first, Danny didn't act surprised. Momentarily, however, he found his mistake and widened his eyes forcefully. "Wow. I thought it was broken?"

"Nah," his father said, turning back to his project. "I guess whatever broke all the light bulbs in the house must have sent a strong enough electric shock to wake that baby up. Luckily we weren't still working on it at the time, otherwise who knows what could have happened?"

Danny winced.

"Anyway," Jack began, "Did you need something, Danny? School project ideas? Field Trip permission forms?"

"Actually…" _Man, how am I going to break this to him without him going nuts?_ He took a deep breath. "I'd like to ask you a few things about ghosts."

"Ghosts?!" Jack exclaimed, looking exceedingly fierce for the briefest of moments before grinning. "Fire away, Danny! I know just about everything about those spooks!"

Danny strongly resisted the urge to groan. _Wonderful, so now I'm a spook._ "Say a ghost snuck out of the ghost zone," he began uneasily, "And you couldn't get rid of it no matter how many times you beat it up. How would you take care of it?"

"Easy," Jack replied. "You just send it back where it came from."

_For some reason I get the feeling that this is way easier said than done._ "How? You can't exactly tie it up or anything. It's a ghost."

"Not all ghosts are completely intangible," Jack said, searching the drawer next to him for a wrench. "Different ghosts have different abilities; that's what makes them so tricky to catch sometimes. Of course, not all of them are quite so powerful, but once you can catch them off guard enough you can trap them and toss them back into the ghost zone, provided you have a portal like the one we've got."

"And what do you normally catch them with?" Danny asked.

"That's what I'm working on right now." There was a brief pause as Jack secured a few bolts before proudly holding up a metallic, cylindrical object. "Behold the Fenton Thermos!"

_Thermos?_ Danny echoed in his mind, feeling highly doubtful._ What's it supposed to do, turn ghosts into soup?_ "What's it for?"

"It's supposed to be an all-purpose ghost catcher," Jack replied, looking at his creation contemplatively. "Of course, I've never really caught a ghost, so right now it's just a thermos with 'Fenton' on it."

Danny felt a twinge of satisfaction. _So if I meet that thing again, I just have to catch it and bring it back to the Ghost Zone through my Dad's portal. I don't know if his invention will work, but I think I know where to get some advice._ "Thanks for the information, Dad." With that, he ran upstairs before his father could begin rambling further.

* * *

"Still no sign of Phantom?" The large beast within the cave growled. He was only slightly irate, but his people had a tendency to over-do their aggression.

"We have not found any," a scout reported. "There are no signs of overshadowing in the human world, but the feral is still on the loose. Apparently it's been targeting a gathering of young humans; we believe Phantom may be there."

"I see," the leader replied, crossing his arms. "But we still have one more witness to question, and he has given me a few details."

"You've asked Skulker about him?!" One of the councilmen shouted angrily. "You know that _hunter _is unreliable!"

"Enough!" Another member insisted. "Let us hear the evidence presented before us."

The leader of the council sighed before continuing. "The Phantom has indeed fled to the human realm, most likely by pure coincidence. A trusted companion of mine had briefly inspected the human realm for any signs of him, and sensed _two_."

"Phantom cannot possibly pull off such a feat!"

"There were still two signals," The large beast continued, easily ignoring the interruption. "My friend could not stay long enough to find both, but one of them was already in front of the portal when he went to investigate. He informed me that the signal that he was able to point out was, in fact, not Phantom, but something eerily similar to him. There was, however, one thing that we both found intriguing about this."

"And what would that be?" a councilman shouted. "How can we trust _your _words if your friend will not speak them for himself?"

"Then I shall speak them on my own _time_ if you wish."

Everyone's head swiveled in one direction. There, entering the cave, was a red-eyed figure cloaked in a violet hood, pale blue skin glowing eerily in the light. A staff was gripped evenly in his hand, his expression difficult to discern.

"Clockwork?" a young councilwoman cried quietly. "So it was you whom sought out the truth beyond Phantom's disappearance?"

"Correct," Clockwork responded, voice calm and steady. "And I bring strange news indeed…"

* * *

Danny paced around his room awkwardly. From what his father had told him, the only way to make sure that ghost didn't keep coming back was to send it back home. For that, he needed a way to catch it. The thermos his father was working on wasn't a guarantee, so he had to work with other methods.

"I can't exactly grab it and drag it all the way here," he groaned, "Though I should be able to get it to follow me if I tried."

"I wouldn't count on it," said a familiar voice.

Danny cast a glance at his mirror, and just as he suspected, it was acting on its own accord again. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whoever's still trying to mess with my brain, this method is getting kind of old."

"You want to get rid of that feral, don't you?"

_That_ caught Danny's attention. He spun on the spot, locking the door and then re-focusing on the mirror. "What did you call it?"

"A feral," his reflection replied. "Not all ghosts are cut from the same cloth. Nearly all of them are perfectly normal, but there are some called ferals that don't really have instincts like other typical ghosts."

"You know a lot about this," Danny pointed out suspiciously.

Mirror-Danny shrugged. "I'm just trying to help," he replied. "If you're going to put that feral back in the Ghost Zone, you're going to have to either catch it or beat it."

"But I _can't_ beat it," the raven-haired boy insisted. "Besides, every time it comes back, it gets stronger."

His reflection paused for a moment before crossing his arms. "Then you'll have to catch it or lure it back into the ghost realm somehow. Of course, you could always frighten it into coming back, but I don't think you're nearly ready for that."

"Catching it sounds easier," Danny said lazily. "What do _you_ have in mind, oh mighty reflection of me?"

Mirror-Danny rolled his eyes. "I don't think that's a compliment, but I'll let that go for now. Your dad's thermos invention may be able to do the trick once it's finished, but until then you'll have to hold off that feral."

"That sounds like fun."

"Good luck with that!" Mirror-Danny said, smiling innocently and waving.

Danny was about to protest when his reflection flickered and resumed mimicking him. Sighing in defeat, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth before catching up on his studying. He could work on dealing with the "feral" or whatever it was later. For some reason, however, he had a feeling that he was being watched.

* * *

So, there's chapter 7. Still a little ways to go. After all, there are still a few mysteries we do not know much of...


	8. Being Watched

So here's chapter eight. Enjoy.

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Eight: Being Watched**

* * *

Danny ended up not getting enough sleep that night. Between studying and worrying about the feral ghost plaguing the school, he hardly got any sleep. Every so often he'd feel a very slight chill go up his back and he'd sit bolt upright, only to find nothing there. In the end, Danny only ended up getting five hours of sleep, and was quite ill prepared for the next day.

Sam was the first to notice his lack of sleep when Danny successfully nodded off multiple times during his first few classes. The boy thankfully seemed a bit more awake by the time third hour rolled around, but neither Tucker nor Sam managed to be able to ask him about it.

By lunch, the peace had ended. Danny only poked at his food at first, but eventually his normal eating habits had returned. Relieved, the discussion began. "So what are we going to do about that thing?" Tuck asked. "You told me that it wasn't staying down yesterday."

"And if I beat it again, it won't stay down today either," Danny replied, biting a large chunk out of his sandwich. "Every time that thing gets back up, it gets even stronger."

"So how are we going to get rid of it?" Sam asked, pushing her potatoes around nervously.

"We?" Danny echoed. "Don't tell me you're in on this, too."

"We're your best friends," Sam insisted. "We'll help in any way we can."

"But you'll get hurt…"

Sam shook her head, rolling her eyes. "And we're supposed to watch you get beat up?" she protested. "Even if we're not the ones throwing fists around, we're going to help whether you like it or not."

Danny began to come up with something to reply with, only to find that it wasn't an option. He had known Sam for many, many years, and when she got that look in her eye there was no stopping her. Sighing, he nodded, and continued. "The ghost is apparently called a feral. I don't know much else about it except we're going to have to send it back to where it came from if we're going to have it off our hands. My dad is making something called the Fenton Thermos which is supposed to catch ghosts. If it works once it's finished, we'll be home free. All we'll have to do is get that think weak enough to capture it one way or another and get it back through my parents' portal."

"I can already tell this is going to be a lot harder than it sounds," Tuck commented. "And how do you know all of this?"

There was a moment of hesitation as Danny contemplated on whether or not to tell his friends about his mirror. He quickly came to a decision not to bring others into it. "I did a bit of research," he said quickly.

Sam could apparently tell he wasn't being honest, but didn't push the issue and continued downing her food.

"I can't be certain for now, but I might be able to sneak into the lab and-" Danny froze as a familiar chill ran up his spine. After seeing his breath, he glanced around the room warily.

"Something wrong?" Sam asked.

Danny didn't answer until he had looked closely around. "All right," he began, sitting back down. "I thought I sensed a ghost nearby…"

"'Sensed'?" Tuck echoed. "You psychic now, too?"

"No," Danny replied. "I get this cold chill and I can see my breath whenever there's a ghost nearby. There must have been one here, but I don't think it's close by anymore." He lowered his voice a bit. "Look, guys. I might have a handle on this whatever-it-is, but I still don't want to keep it once I've cleaned up this mess. I'm still having a bit of trouble opening doorknobs and keeping my pencil in my hand during class, and if anyone catches me I'm going from geek to _freak_."

"We know," Sam said, swallowing a forkful of mashed potatoes. "Have you worked anything out yet, Tucker?"

"Nothing," Tucker said, looking slightly dismayed. "If we reverse the settings on your parents' portal and set it off again, it could send you back to normal, but there's no guarantee you'll make it out in one piece."

"There's no guarantee we'll even get into it either," Danny added. "The portal fills up the entire machine now. We'll have to figure out something else. Besides, that thing is my parents' life work. If its normal settings allow it to open up to another dimension, I don't think I'd want to know what the reverse does." Yet even as he spoke, Danny felt something tug at the back of his mind. Maybe whatever was wrong with him had been given to him for a reason. The ghost haunting the school was just an example. Maybe getting a handle on these was just fine; if he simply didn't let them go off, he wouldn't have any problems. Of course, getting rid of them was the best prevention, but he had a feeling that there was much more to this than he knew.

* * *

Danny headed home that day feeling exceedingly tired. The ghost had not attacked school, thankfully, but he didn't quite feel safe there. When he walked in the door, he called out to his parents, only to receive no reply. He entered the kitchen and found a note waiting for him.

_Danny, your father and I are out grocery shopping. There's leftover spaghetti in the fridge from when Jazz cooked last night. Love, Mom._

Sure enough, the pasta was sitting right beneath the ham, but Danny closed the refrigerator door and headed for the lab anyway. After double-checking to make sure that his sister wasn't around, he slipped inside and closed the door securely behind him.

The room was indeed dark, but Danny didn't really have a problem with that. A quick moment of focus later and he found himself seeing perfectly fine in the dark, courtesy of his ghostly form. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for; the Fenton Thermos sat neatly on top of his father's desk, sitting perfectly upright. All tools that had been sitting near it the previous day were gone and tucked away, implying its completion. Danny thoughtfully picked it up. "I sure hope this can get rid of that feral," he muttered to no one in particular.

"_Phantom?"_

Danny felt a chill run up his spine, and he suddenly found himself spinning toward the door on complete instinct. No one was there. He gazed about wildly. "Wha…who's there?"

"_Phantom, is that you?"_

"Phantom?" The ghost-boy echoed, cocking an eyebrow. "Who are you talking about?"

"_You are not Phantom?"_

Danny narrowed his eyes, clutching the thermos tightly. "I don't know who this Phantom guy is," he replied lowly, "But if you're here to hurt anyone…" His voice trailed off. The threat was empty; he barely knew how to stay composed in a situation like this. The cold left suddenly, and Danny felt himself relax, if but slightly. _Someone…or something…was here,_ he thought before heading intangibly through the roof and into his bedroom, carrying the thermos with him. After returning to a solid state, he stared thoughtfully at the object in his hand. _Sorry, Dad. I'll return this once everyone's safe._ With that, he discretely tucked the device away in his lunchbox – careful not to set it off just in case – and reverted back to human form, settling into his bed to rest.

Unknown to him, his reflection in the mirror was still awake, standing and watching warily over his sleeping form. "Maybe I was wrong about you," he said before fading away, leaving the mirror to reflect Danny's slumbering form buried beneath the blankets.

* * *

"Do you mock us, Clockwork?!"

The cloaked ghost shook his head. If he was offended by the statement, he obviously didn't show it. "I speak the truth. I thought I had found Phantom, but when I looked outside the portal, I found that my senses were leading me not to a ghost, but a _human_."

"There has to be a mistake! Surely the human was being overshadowed!"

"The human did sense me somehow," Clockwork replied. "However, I do not believe he noticed me, as he left the area shortly after. He was not being overshadowed whatsoever, but he was carrying one of the signals I sensed."

"What of the other signal?"

Clockwork's lips pressed into a thin line. "I could not find it, but I did sense it. It is exceedingly weak and growing weaker by the moment. At this rate it will last less than a week. In the meantime, the human's signal steadily grows stronger."

"Can't you tell us anything else?"

"Of both of the ones I could sense, I was able to discern that only one of the ones I sensed was truly Phantom. Which, I cannot say." Clockwork turned away. "In order to discern the truth, I must pass through that portal and investigate once more. I beg your leave, gentlemen." With that, he was gone.

* * *

Blah, another slow chapter...the pace will pick up next time around, seriously! Yeah, Danny is still a bit reluctant about his powers and such, but trust me...that won't last _too _terribly long. Sorry this one came in a bit late; I was stuck in town today, and I have another fanfic idea boiling up in my head. Chapter 9 soon!


	9. Reassurance and Unease

This chapter is a tad longer than usual. I also hope it clears up any confusion.

* * *

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Nine: Reassurance and Unease**

* * *

_He didn't know whether he was running or flying, but Danny was going as fast as he possibly could. He barely noticed that the world around him was dark and dreary, with various doors and bits of land floating in midair. Unable to control himself, he felt his head swivel around to see a glowing green octopus racing after him. He recognized it as the one from school. As he ran from it, it continued chasing after him._

_Looking ahead, Danny desperately searched for a way out. As though the answer to his prayers, he saw a shift in the air ahead. The void before him rippled, and a glow of green beckoned him forth. Deciding it was his only way out, he raced for it. As he entered, however, his vision became consumed by an eerie, flickering light, and an electric current ran through him, wracking him in pain. He felt as though he were being ripped in half…_

Danny sat up in bed with a start, gasping for breath. Whatever that nightmare was, it had seemed vaguely familiar…and yet, he didn't recognize it at all. With a sigh, he wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at the bedside clock. "Three-thirty in the morning," he muttered. "Lovely…I'll have to wake up in less than four hours."

The image of himself in the mirror suddenly glared back at him. "You're not very good at this, are you?"

Danny shook his head, sitting up in bed. Crazy or not, speaking to his mirror would probably help alleviate some of the stress. "To be honest, no. I'm not."

Mirror-Danny crossed his arms. "You know what's causing this whole ghost mess, though. It's your parents' portal. You can only get rid of their main entry point if you knock it out of commission."

"But I can't just destroy it!" Danny protested. "If I do that, they'll will never forgive me!"

"Then you'll have to just turn it off," Mirror-Danny suggested flatly. "Unplug it or something. Cut the flow of power from it."

"Or I could hit the 'off' button."

"No can-do, remember? The portal filled up that entire machine. We have no clue how to work it yet, so you'll have to do things the hard way."

"How did I even get into this mess?" Danny groaned, making for his bed and sitting down. "I just wanted to see if I could fix it and make my parents happy."

"Make you parents happy?" Mirror-Danny replied, his expression softening to a strange curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Danny's shoulders drooped a bit. "I never really liked ghosts, but it wasn't that I hated them or anything. I just wasn't interested. I want to be an astronaut, my sister wants to teach at Yale, and my parents are obsessive ghost hunters. That portal downstairs is their life's work, and as annoyed I was that they even considered building it, it just struck a nerve to see how upset they were when it didn't even start up, so I thought I could fix it for them. You know, it would cheer them up and stuff."

"But it didn't go the way you wanted it to," Mirror-Danny added quietly, "Did it?"

"No," Danny replied, sighing, "It didn't...and now I'm stuck being some half-ghost freak. Not only that, but that ghost came through the portal that _I_ turned on. Everything's my fault."

"Well, you might have been the one to mess up all this stuff, but that doesn't mean you can't fix it."

"But how? I barely know where to start other than catching that feral, and who knows what'll happen if more ghosts make their way through."

Mirror-Danny smirked. "It's true that other ghosts are bound to make their way through that portal, but not all ghosts are cut from the same cloth, if you get my meaning."

Danny felt doubtful. "You mean not all ghosts are evil?"

"Exactly," Mirror-Danny replied. "Some just scare people away because they want to be left alone. Others tend to help people out without them knowing. I'm sure if an evil ghost had the powers you did, he'd probably use them to hurt people, but _you _don't do that. Half-ghost or not, you use what you're given to protect others. For that, you've got _my_ admiration."

Whoever it was in the mirror, he had a point. Besides, having these powers wasn't too terribly bad. Other than it being incredibly cold whenever a ghost came close, he was actually used to it by now. Getting rid of it would probably be just as strange as getting it in the first place.

"Besides, it's natural to be scared of something like this," Mirror-Danny continued. "Fear is what makes us brave. You can't have one without the other."

Danny smiled. "I don't know who you are, but you're right. Thanks." He rolled over in bed, checking to make sure his alarm was still set, and went back to sleep.

Mirror-Danny looked on with a small grin. For a brief moment, however, his image flickered uneasily. He glanced down at his hands, his smile quickly fading to an expression of sad disbelief. "Looks like I don't have much longer," he muttered.

* * *

Danny woke up late after all, but it wasn't too much of a problem for him. He grabbed a quick breakfast and simply flew to school as a ghost. He even went faster than most cars on the street. For a while, Danny detested the thought of using the product of a freak accident to avoid being tardy, but it was his only option if he wasn't going to have any more absences.

Flying wasn't actually half-bad, though. It was like sky-diving, only going forward and not down. It was also relaxing; the wind going past and whipping his hair behind him, the view from above…Danny couldn't help but smile during the experience. It was a bit of a shock, however, when he noticed that his legs had been replaced by some form of spectral tail, but when he found that his legs would appear again at will, he dismissed it.

After making his way into the bathroom to go back to human form, he headed straight out into the hall for his locker. Sam and Tucker were waiting for him.

"There you are," Sam said in her usual dark tone. "Why didn't you walk to school with us?"

"Slept in," Danny answered. "I had a nightmare that woke me up a few hours too early. It wasn't easy getting back to sleep." He conveniently left out the bit where he spoke with his mirror, instead distracting himself with opening his locker.

"That doesn't explain how you still managed to get to school so fast," Tucker pointed out. "If you walked you wouldn't be here yet."

Danny grinned. "That's because I didn't walk," he replied, making sure no one was close enough to hear him whisper. "I flew."

Sam's eyes widened. "You _what_?" she exclaimed. "What if someone saw you?"

Danny shrugged. "I doubt it. If anyone saw me, they wouldn't know it was me anyway. You didn't, after all." He closed his locker. "Come on, let's head to cla-" Danny stopped short when he saw his breath again, the accompanying chill not far off. Sam and Tucker noticed, and stopped along with him.

"Hey, Fen-toad!"

Unfortunately, more trouble was waiting for them.

"Could Dash possibly pick a better time to pick on you?" Sam groaned.

Danny was about to complain when he was struck with an idea. He had to do his best to suppress a grin. "Actually, this is the perfect time for him to pick on me."

A few minutes later saw Dash storming down the hallway with Sam and Tucker discreetly guarding a nearby locker, Danny locked inside. For a moment, the two friends thought that Danny wasn't planning to accept or even want Dash to pick on him, but after a quick few words they knew precisely what to do. Once Dash was out of sight and the hallways were decently clear, they turned to the locker. "The coast is clear, Danny!"

The ghostly form of their friend flew out of the locker, somewhat see-through at first before solidifying outside of his metallic prison. "Okay," he began. "That ghost is somewhere around here. I'm going to track it down. You two head to class. Cover for me if you can." With that, he was off.

Invisibility was very handy for exploring the halls when there were still kids around. Flying was taking a bit more getting used to; having a spectral tail instead of legs allowed him to move much faster. There were no signs of the feral ghost until he reached the track outside the gym. The ghost was indeed there, searching about for something.

_It won't be searching for long,_ Danny though, grinning. He flew downward, readying the Fenton Thermos. "Hey, octo-wuss! Looking for something?!" _Man, I have to come up with something better than that…_

Corny or not, it got the ghost's attention. Angered, the beast raced for him, raising a tentacle to lash out. Danny, however, was one step ahead, and simply opened up the Fenton Thermos in its direction. _Please work!_ He cried silently as he flipped the device on. A blue light shot out of it, encasing the octopus and downsizing it as it was sucked into the opening of the device like a vacuum. The recoil of the creature becoming entrapped in the device knocked Danny backward through the air a bit, but he quickly recovered and screwed the cap back on. He wiped the sweat off of his brow. "Whew…that was easy."

"_Well, well, well, if it isn't Phantom."_

Danny froze on the spot, gazing about wildly. "Who's there?!"

"_What a pity. Don't you recognize me?"_

"Why would I recognize you?" Danny replied hotly. "I'm not this 'Phantom' person, whoever he is."

"_But you _smell_ like him. You _must_ be him. How can you not be?"_

Danny narrowed his eyes, clutching the thermos tightly. "Listen, I don't know who you are or what you want with me, but I don't particularly feel like dealing with you right now. I have an algebra class to go to."

"_You always were the funny one, Phantom. Unfortunately, your little games won't last long. Do you truly think that you are powerful enough to defeat me?"_

"Who are you?!" Danny demanded. "And why are you still following me?"

"_Fool."_

It happened quickly. A blast of white-hot energy erupted from the shadows nearby, slammed into Danny's back and sending him crashing into the bleachers. Though thankfully the pain of hitting the bleachers wasn't as terrible as it could have been, whatever had hit him was still stinging like mad. In the shock, Danny felt himself shifting back to human form.

"_The human? Impossible!"_

"_The_ human?" Danny echoed as he managed to push himself to his feet. "What, did I become famous when I got electrocuted, too?"

"_Silence, mortal!"_

A hand suddenly grabbed Danny around the neck, lifting him off the ground. Whatever was attacking him was apparently invisible, but completely capable of inflicting harm. "Let go!" Danny wheezed, struggling.

"_I may not know where Phantom is,"_ the voice growled, spitting out each word as though it were poison, _"But I cannot allow a _human _to get in my way!"_ The invisible tormentor flung Danny across the field, allowing him to skid to a halt near the football goal. Danny could barely stand, but he could make out the air rippling as his transparent assailant flew off.

Sam and Tucker were quickly on the scene. "You okay?" Sam asked, helping him up.

"I've seen better days," Danny replied in a grunt. His body still ached. "Can you guys help me get out? I feel like my limbs are going to fall off."

"You need to get to the nurse," Tucker said, his eyes showing clear concern. "I don't think anyone else saw all that, but I'm amazed you're not more hurt than you are."

Danny couldn't agree more. He didn't answer his friend, however; his mind had wandered. Why was that ghost calling him Phantom? Who _was_ Phantom? Did this all have to do with the incident with the portal? That aside, he felt incredibly dismayed at the sudden defeat he had suffered. He caught the octopus, but now he had another attacker to deal with, and he had a strong feeling that no one was safe so long as it was around. The question was, how do you defeat what you can't see?

* * *

"The feral is gone," Clockwork announced. "It would seem that someone has been trying to take it down and finally succeeded."

"Phantom, no doubt," one of the councilmen said.

"But it's too strange," another councilman pointed out. "If he _ran_ from the feral previously, why would he fight it?"

"_Phantom_ is in hiding," Clockwork replied. "The human has been the one battling the feral."

"The human containing Phantom's signature?! Impossible!"

In response, Clockwork turned away briefly. "The human indeed carries Phantom's signal, but I believe that his capability to defeat the beast are far from impossible. Highly unlikely, perhaps, but still very much achievable. Phantom, however, has not made a single move."

"We cannot allow Phantom to roam freely!" A councilman cried frantically. "You know what the future holds for him!"

Clockwork crossed his arms casually. "_Phantom_ no longer roams freely," he said in reminder, "And he will not _be _for much longer."

There was an eerie silence in the chamber as everyone came to the same conclusion. Noting the foreboding vale that had been cast upon them, Clockwork nodded in confirmation. "Correct. The signal that I recognized as Phantom himself was the weak one. He has less than a day left to exist."

"And after that…?"

Clockwork exited. "The task very well might remain with the boy. After all, it is only a matter of _time_…"

* * *

So...um...I hope that cleared up a few things, maybe? Oh, well...next chapter soons!


	10. Conversations with a Mirror

Whew, this is a record of me...but most of this was already typed out beforehand, so...I dunno. Here's your silly part ten. Enjoy.

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Ten: Conversations with a Mirror**

* * *

Lunch time was abnormally quiet compared to the previous few days. Danny poked at his food uncertainly, his thoughts still on the mysterious attacker from before. The feral that had eluded him several times was finally captured, but now he had something completely different to deal with, and he was certain that this wasn't a feral ghost.

"Danny, are you going to finish your meatloaf or can I have it?" Tucker asked.

"I'm not all that hungry," Danny replied, leaving his friend's question partially unanswered.

"What happened to you out there, anyway?" Sam said, hoping to change the subject off of food. "We saw you catch that octopus, but then you were being thrown all over the place."

"I don't know," Danny replied. "Whatever attacked me next kept calling me 'Phantom.' I don't know who Phantom is – other than he's not me – but that thing apparently did and he wasn't too happy to figure out that I wasn't a ghost. I have a really bad feeling he's going to take his frustration out on the school."

There wasn't really a response for him. Sam and Tucker continued their meals, while Danny's mind wandered. In spite of the reassurance he had received from his mirror the previous night, he was feeling even _more_ lost than before. His confidence was completely gone.

The rest of the day went by slower than ever. Danny forced himself to take notes during class and write down a reminder for any homework assignments. The last bell of the day was salvation for him, and yet still he felt miserable. He walked home immediately following the bell, not bothering to catch up with his friends; his poise wasn't the only thing that had been drained after the surprise attack.

* * *

Clockwork warily entered the human world via the mysterious portal. After confirming that no humans were around, he phased swiftly upward through the roofs, ending up in a small room cluttered with papers, a few pieces of furniture, and a basketball in the corner. One poster caught Clockwork's attention: it was a picture of what he recognized as a space ship, sitting dormant at its launch station. Also in the photo were two adult humans and two children.

"He wants to be an astronaut."

The voice caught Clockwork's attention, but the strange echoing quality of it kept him from lashing out in self-defense. Nearby stood a mirror, in which was an image of the boy from one of the pictures on the desk, but with some major changes: he wore a mysterious black-and-white jumpsuit, and rather than pitch-black, his hair was white. A strange glow surrounded him, and his eyes shone an eerie green. The room, however, did not currently contain the boy in question, and it didn't take a genius to tell Clockwork that the mirror was haunted, and he knew who was doing the job.

Clockwork's eyes narrowed softly. "So, there you are, Phantom."

The boy in the mirror nodded. "It's been a while since I last saw you. How's the Ghost Zone?"

"In chaos," the ever-shifting ghost replied. "We've been trying to track you and the feral for a good amount of time. When I arrived and felt your presence in two places, I was puzzled to say the least."

"You're telling me," Phantom grunted. "The moment I escaped through the portal, it was like something tore me in half. I don't know what hit me, but when I woke up I was trapped in this mirror, and all of my power was gone. I've been feeling weaker and weaker since then."

"I know," Clockwork responded. "My estimates indicate that you have less than a day left. Do you know about the boy?"

"Not much," Phantom said, glancing around warily. "He's not exactly high on confidence all the time. I've spoken with him a bit and taught him a few things to keep my power under control. Of course, it's not _my_ power anymore, but I think you get my meaning."

Clockwork nodded. "Many in the Ghost Zone are still opposed to letting any part of you remain free, considering what your future apparently holds for them."

Phantom scoffed.

"We have, however, received reports that the feral has been vanquished," Clockwork concluded, hoping to change the subject.

Phantom grinned. "Not bad. Looks like Danny can pull himself together after all!"

"I wouldn't be too sure," Clockwork replied. "Another opponent has arrived on the scene, bent on your destruction. You don't have much time, Phantom. You must tell him the truth before you are gone forever. It may not accomplish much, but it would at least put you at peace should you do it before you fade."

"I know," Phantom replied sadly, looking at his hands once more. They were flickering uncertainly. "I'll tell him once he's back from school. Letting someone live believing a lie isn't my style, anyway."

Nodding approvingly, Clockwork left.

* * *

Danny trudged into the house wearily, partially thankful that his parents were busy in the lab. As he made his way upstairs, he noticed his sister's light on and cautiously triggered his invisibility, hoping to get through the hall unnoticed should she open her door. He phased through his own bedroom door and returned to normal, tossing his schoolbag unceremoniously onto his bed and slumping onto his desk chair.

"Heard you beat the feral," said a familiar voice. "Impressive work."

"Yeah," Danny replied half-heartedly, not bothering to make a remark on Mirror-Danny being far too knowledgeable than he should be. "Caught it in Dad's invention."

An odd and uncomfortable silence passed through before Mirror-Danny sighed. "Let me take a wild guess and say there's another ghost after you now, and a much more powerful one at that. Am I right?"

"Yep."

"I knew it," Mirror-Danny groaned. "That's the only thing that would send you down in the dumps after coming so far and finally beating that feral. Even _I_ couldn't beat it, though; you should be proud."

Danny's attention was caught like a fish on a hook. "Wait a minute, _you_?"

"Yeah, me," Mirror-Danny replied. "Did you really think you were talking to yourself in a mirror this whole time?"

"I thought something was odd about this," Danny muttered. "What do you mean, _you _fought it?"

Mirror-Danny sighed. "Long story short, I'm a ghost."

"And you're haunting my mirror," Danny concluded.

"Unwillingly, but yes." Mirror-Danny glanced toward the window, looking very uneasy. "That feral attacked me and I couldn't take it down, so I decided to escape into the human world. The problem was there weren't any portals nearby. At the last second I saw one open up, but when I tried to go through…something went wrong."

"What happened?" Danny inquired, suddenly all ears.

"I felt like I was being torn in half," Mirror-Danny continued. "When I finally woke up, my powers that I had as a ghost were gone, and I was stuck here in this mirror. I felt my ghost powers somewhere else nearby, slowly growing more powerful, but in return I was getting weaker. My power must have been transferred over to you."

"But how?" Danny asked. "If you were trying to get out of the portal, why did you get split in half instead?"

"The Ghost Zone is a sort of alternate universe of the human world," Mirror-Danny explained. "Pretty much everything in the human world has a counterpart in the Ghost Zone. One world can't really exist without the other."

Danny crossed his arms. "So my parents opened up a portal to an alternate dimension," he concluded. "What does that have to do with me getting stuck with _your_ powers and you being stuck in _my_ mirror?"

"That's the part where the introduction is in order," Mirror-Danny pointed out, taking a sweeping bow. "I never got to do this properly before because I wasn't sure, but it's better to do this now than later. My name is Phantom, and I'm your ghostly equivalent."

"So, you're my Ghost Zone counterpart?"

Phantom nodded. "Yep. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Danny."

Danny blinked, not sure whether he liked this or not. "So, what, I'm two people at once now?"

"Not quite," Phantom replied, grinning. "You're still you, but with a slight upgrade of sorts. I'm just stuck in your mirror now."

"_Upgrade" isn't exactly how I'd like to put it, but I'll go with it for now. _"Isn't it uncomfortable in there?" Danny asked, hoping to sound thoughtful.

Fortunately, Phantom wasn't upset. "It's not that bad. I can only really show up in your reflection in _this_ mirror, and since we're still technically the same person, I don't think it matters. Besides, I won't be here for much longer."

Danny's eyes widened. "Why not?" he protested. "You haven't been here that long, and I only just now got to know who you are!"

"I was your ghost zone counterpart, remember?" Phantom replied, a somewhat sad smile on his face. "My power got sucked into you when the portal went off, but my consciousness was stuck here. All I can do is give a little bit of advice for you from what little I know. Once I'm gone, you'll be on your own." Just as he finished his sentence, the reflection in the mirror began to shift. Phantom clutched his head uneasily as his form began to phase in and out uncertainly. "Right on cue…" he groaned, wincing.

Danny raced up to the mirror, holding onto the edges as though it would help. "What's wrong?"

Phantom was obviously in pain. "My time is up," He said through gritted teeth. "Listen…if anything goes wrong, Clockwork will help you! I'm sorry I can't tell you much more than that!"

"You can't go!" Danny cried. "I still need your help! How am I supposed to get rid of that ghost? I'm not strong enough!"

"Whether you're strong enough or not is up to you," Phantom grunted, beginning to shudder. "I've taught you as much as I know, and there are…still a few things that I haven't learned on my own yet." Even as the image began to fade, Phantom opened one eye and locked it onto Danny's. "I know you're…not very sure of yourself, but you're strong enough to beat that thing, and I've got full confidence…that you can do it."

"I…"

"Don't doubt yourself!" Phantom insisted. "I know you can do it, Danny! Just don't forget!" And with that, Danny's reflection flickered for the final time, leaving the raven-haired boy truly alone in his room. Phantom was gone.


	11. Renewed Determination

EDIT: Fixed up a minor problem or two, and hopefully set straight a small continuity problem. Can you tell I wrote this when I was half-asleep? x.X

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Eleven: Renewed Determination**

* * *

Clockwork had never quite encountered something like this before. In all his years, he had known of the predictions that several had made, and of the legends that a young Halfa – half-ghost, half-human – would appear to them in such a manner. Whether the Halfa would wreak chaos or peace was constantly in question, but Clockwork knew which course the boy would take.

Phantom was gone by now, but in his room Clockwork could see the entire ordeal. The human had barely known the specter that had inhabited his mirror, and yet he had grown rather attached to him. In speaking with the Phantom earlier, it was easily shown that Phantom had taken a liking to the boy as well. Clockwork couldn't help but express his own admiration; the human was given this power, and in spite of what it could potentially do as a destructive force, he used it to protect those dear to him without a second thought. Reckless, but noble.

But now a large uncertainty had settled over the boy. He might have attained Phantom's power through sheer coincidence, but he was still human. He had ambitions. He had dreams. He had a family. He had friends. He even had talents that many would crave. Before gaining these powers, the boy could have been just another cheerful adolescent with a less-than-average family. To see him now, gripping the mirror before him in shock and sadness, caused Clockwork to do a quick double-take. The boy had barely known Phantom, and had even been suspicious of him. Why would he be so concerned?

Then it hit him. Phantom had been his friend.

It was hard to consider someone a friend after only knowing them for a short period of time, but Phantom had obviously seen something in this human that no one else could have. Clockwork had known Phantom for a long while; though he had been reckless and rather naïve at times, his loyalty and resolve were absolutely unbreakable. The ghost had also had a knack for knowing people inside-out upon first meeting. Surely this human had something worth merit to consider him a companion. For the human, however, it was hard to know. Perhaps the human had thought something similar about Phantom. Perhaps whatever Phantom had told him had struck a chord in his heart. Whatever it was, Clockwork had seen the boy go from looking completely hopeless, to curious, to absolutely shocked, and finally to a strange, silent, motionless state of grieving.

Even as he watched through the portal of time, however, the human stood, his fists clenched and eyes narrowed. Clockwork knew that expression; Phantom had looked that same exact way before on many occasions, and on each one of them he had made a silent resolution involving something or someone's protection, and he had never once failed.

"I'm not giving up," he heard the boy say. "I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt because of me. I might have made this mess, but that doesn't mean I can't fix it." In a brilliant flash of light, the boy took off for the door, leaving all doubt behind. Clockwork grinned inwardly at the boy's resolve.

The problem that now rested with him was the fact that the council would have to know about this. The shock of hearing that Phantom had relinquished his powers and the last of his energy to a human (effectively making him a Halfa) would certainly not come as a positive piece of news. Clockwork believed that perhaps it would be better if he simply observed for a little while longer. After all, if Phantom had such confidence in the human, then he must have known about his potential.

* * *

Danny didn't bother dinner with everyone else. He snuck himself a handful of cereal, helped down it with a glass of milk and headed straight back to his room, leaving his backpack behind and transforming into his ghostly self, soaring out the window and abandoning all rational thoughts involving being grounded, his grades, and his odd disappearance.

He had far more important things on his agenda.

Something in the back of his mind was screaming a string of curses at him. He knew he was being reckless. He might get killed, and this would all be in vain. Phantom would have helped him and then vanished forever, and his efforts would have meant nothing. If Danny screwed up, everything was lost. Of course, that was exactly why he was rushing head-first into this. If he let that thing continue running around, people would get hurt.

_Besides,_ he mused, _I'm tired of doubting myself. Phantom told me I could do this, and he's helped me before. I know I can trust him. And…I can't let anyone get hurt because of me. I made this mess, and it's about time I cleaned it up._

He was at school at record speed, even for flying. He landed in the football field and waited patiently, Fenton Thermos strapped to his back. It didn't take long for his opponent to show his presence.

"_So, you came, Phantom. What is it you seek?"_

"Getting rid of you," Danny replied, "And in case you haven't figured it out, I'm not Phantom, even though I _smell_ like him."

"_But you are so similar to him,"_ the voice continued, growling. _"Besides, we've been looking for you, regardless of your identity."_

Danny rolled his eyes. "Great; there's more of you out to tan my hide?"

"_But of _course_. Rumors have traveled of the Halfa. Half-human, half-ghost. No one knows your origins, but as for me, I'm more than happy to get rid of you than sate their curiosity."_

The air shifted. Taking his cue, Danny dove into the gym, hoping the place would be big enough to fight. The school had closed down, and as such the lights were off. That was fine; he could see in the dark. The air shifted once more, and Danny could sense his opponent near.

"_Come out, come out, wherever you are!"_

Danny was positively freaked out by the voice. There was barely any time to react as a blast of red energy hurled his way. Frantically, the ghost boy dodged out of the way just in time for it to slam into the bleachers. _Man, I sure hope the school is insured._ Thinking quickly, he raced forward toward the direction that the beam came from, only to find more firing his way. The dodging on Danny's part ended up being complete guesswork – that or instinct – but thankfully he managed to avoid every single one. As the chill around him grew stronger, he drew back a punch and sent it flying forward. "Be careful what you ask for, Mister Invisible!" It made contact, and the invisible attacker was sent flying through the air and crashing into a basketball goal, tearing it from the ceiling.

"_How could you claim not to be Phantom?!"_ the voice cried. _"Only he could exhibit such power!"_

"I had a few lessons," Danny replied, sending another punch at his attacker. It was strange; he had no idea where the assailant was visually but a sixth sense of sorts was leading him in the right direction. As he thought he was winning, however, he felt a cold hand grab his throat tightly, lifting him into the air. A snarl reached his ears as he gasped for breath.

"_You know what the future holds, Phantom. The entire council has known, as well. You are doomed to a fate of evil. Innocence cannot be reclaimed once lost."_

"Unless it was still there to begin with," Danny retorted, crying out as he pried the hand from his neck, grabbing hold of the arm and hurling whatever was grasping him through the wall and outside. Soaring through the gap, Danny focused his eyes to the light again, quickly finding the displaced air and glaring at it. "What do you want from me, anyway?!"

"_It's simple, Phantom. The council knows that in your future you will be at fault for a great bout of destruction. That fool Clockwork insists that there is good left in you, that you can _change_, but we know better than to listen to him. I figured, why wait? Get rid of the menace now and we won't have to worry about your petty future!"_

Danny rolled his eyes. "That _would _be a clever idea, but I don't think it'll do you any good, because I'm _not_ Phantom!" He raced forward again, full of frustration and rage, only to be slapped out of the air. Danny screamed in pain as he crashed into a light pole and slid to the ground, his consciousness fading.

* * *

Okay, I admit. I could have made this longer, but I kinda thought this was a good stopping point. Plus, I'm kinda on a time-tight schedule at the moment. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. If not tomorrow, maybe Sunday or during next week. Not entirely sure.


	12. Turning Up the Heat

I really must apologize for my sudden absence. I'm writing _Amity Invasion_ and got stuck on it for a bit. I think I've delayed updating this for long enough; hopefully I can beat writer's block before it can reach me. TO THE CHAPPIE!

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Twelve: Turning up the Heat**

* * *

Darkness. Complete darkness. Danny didn't know where he was, how he had gotten there. The only think that swarmed in his mind at the moment was a strange and eerie silence. He felt nothing, and as much as he tried, nothing would respond to his cries to react. He could still feel the pain from the previous attack from his invisible enemy, but he couldn't even attempt to console himself from it.

_**Danny?**_

His eyes refused to open, but Danny could feel himself floating somewhere. His body felt as though it were on fire; the pain undulating much like the ghostly glow around him. He could hear his heartbeat – if but faintly – and his breathing echoed around him. Was he dead? What happens when you die? Had he gone to the other place? It was kind of cold here. Maybe he had just passed out.

_**Hello? Are you there?**_

Whose voice was that? Was that the person attacking him? No, it sounded too familiar. Maybe he was talking to himself. Then again, why would he be bugging himself to wake up? He didn't have to go anywhere…

_**Come on, Danny! Pull yourself together!**_

Finally giving into the voice nagging at him, Danny forced his eyelids open, the pain fading. At first, all he could see was white. It blinded him at first, but after a moment his eyes adjusted. Once his vision cleared, Danny realized he was floating in the air above a large, frozen wasteland. Below him were two figures. One was an oddly yeti-like creature, wearing a blue kilt of sorts and a similar cape. His horns and left arm seemed to be made of ice, with the skeletal portion of his arm showing through the rime. He was enormous and powerful, but something told Danny that this creature's nature was quite different than its appearance. Next to the creature was a very familiar figure. In fact, Danny had seen that figure in a mirror before.

_Phantom?_

"The council doesn't want me here," the humanoid ghost said quietly, though somehow Danny could hear him. "I overheard them saying I'm supposed to be some kind of evil person in the future."

"The Observants may be authority," the yeti replied, his authoritative-seeming voice somehow calm, "But not everyone agrees with them most of the time. Clockwork is often sent to do many of their errands, though he is often smart enough to outwit them from what they expect."

Danny blinked. _Clockwork…didn't Phantom mention him before?_

Phantom grinned. "Clockwork is my type of guy," he said. "They tell him to do something, and he does it…just not in the way they expect."

"The Far Frozen have had qualms with the Observants several times," the yeti continued, "But I have always kept close contact with Clockwork to make sure that my people remain safe, and you know I include you with that."

"But I'm not even a Far Frozen," Phantom weakly protested. "There are already others coming after me. What if your people get hurt, Frostbite? What if I can't protect them?"

"Whether you're strong enough or not is up to you," Frostbite replied, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder lightly. "You should never doubt yourself."

Phantom didn't seem too convinced. "I know you say never to doubt myself, but it's really hard not to. I'm always afraid that someone will get hurt because of me."

Frostbite grinned ever so slightly. "It's natural to be afraid, but fear is what makes us brave. One cannot exist without the other."

"I guess you're right," Phantom replied, smiling. "If we don't experience anything bad, what makes the good stuff good?"

"Precisely."

"Besides," Phantom continued, "Clockwork doesn't like those guys either, right?" He laughed and deepened his voice. "That's the problem with you Observants. All you do is observe." He was obviously imitating someone much older than him. Though the impersonation was somewhat poorly done, both individuals laughed at what was probably an inside joke.

Meanwhile, Danny couldn't help but notice his own curiosity at the scene. _What am I seeing?_ He thought. _Are these Phantom's memories or something?_

_**And if they are?**_

Before Danny could question the strange voice, the scene below him shifted and vanished. He felt himself coming to, his eyes opening to see the football field around him completely empty, the sky darkening into night. He knew, however, that he was not alone; a chill crept up his back. He looked about wildly, but found nothing. "Where are you?!" He shouted angrily, hoping that the invisible enemy would respond.

_**Your enemy isn't here, Danny.**_

Danny hesitated. "Who's there?" He asked no one in particular, this time softer. "And…how do you know my name?"

_**Your foe is only invisible, and especially in light. He has no other power. If you wish to turn this battle in your advantage, go somewhere that he cannot hide from you.**_

The chill left, and Danny knew he was alone. Narrowing his eyes and reminding himself to track down the mysterious voice later, he drank in the information. _The enemy can only go invisible when it's light out,_ he thought, casting a glance to his hands. _It makes sense. Ghosts have a glow around them. If I go some place dark, he won't be able to hide._ He looked up at the sky. Dusk was falling, and it wouldn't be long until it was completely dark outside. _But night doesn't last forever. I need to go inside. The dockside warehouses should work perfectly._ Leaping up, he flew at top speed for the docks downtown. It didn't take him long – he was going faster than most cars did on a highway. Once he reached his destination, he flew inside and waited, hiding amidst a pile of boxes.

He didn't have to wait long. A loud _thud_ signaled his opponent's arrival. "I know you're in here, boy…"

_Finally, he's not calling me Phantom. It took him long enough to get that through his head._ Cautiously, Danny peered out of his hiding spot at the area around him. He had placed himself in a corner to make sure he wasn't caught from behind. Sure enough, there was a large glowing figure near the doors. Danny was able to make out the outline of it: it appeared to be a large serpent of sorts, but unlike most it had a pair of bat-like wings folded on its back. It slithered about slowly, its slender head poking about, a forked tongue poking out every so often. Whenever it spoke, its mouth did not move. _It must be using telepathy,_ Danny reasoned. He almost admonished himself for entertaining the thought, but by now it seemed completely plausible.

"You cannot hide from me," the snake continued, lashing its tail out suddenly at a stack of barrels nearby.

Taking his cue among the crashing sounds of the barrels being demolished, Danny lunged from his hiding spot and sent a punch slamming into the creature's back, hurling it into the wall. "Not so tough now that you're not invisible, are you?" he taunted, reaching for the thermos still strapped to his back. Before he could activate it, however, a tail lashed out and bound him around the waist, trapping his arms and immobilizing him.

"Clever little sneak," the monster hissed. "So you found out a way to finally see me, did you? What makes you think that's enough to take me down?"

Danny began to reply when the snake began to tighten its grip, the coil increasing. He was so lost in pain he could barely focus enough to become intangible. Gritting his teeth, he tried the next best thing: pulling himself out manually. It didn't work.

"But of course, this is no fun if you can see what's harming you. But there's no light outside, is there?" The snake turned its gaze slyly to the stored items nearby. "Then we'll just have to get some light inside, won't we?" A burst of unseen heat exploded from the monster's maw, slamming into numerous cardboard boxes and setting them aflame.

It didn't take long for things to click in Danny's mind. The fire quickly began to spread, and with it came light. His captor quickly vanished from view, leaving him squirming in pain and unable to help himself.

He could hear the snake's cackling laughter. "Oh, my mistake. I meant to turn on the light, but I guess I _turned up the heat_ instead! Well, this is going to be fun, isn't it?"

Danny narrowed his eyes. Things had just gone from bad to worse, and not only was his foe invisible once more, but now he was trapped in a growing inferno with no escape in sight.

* * *

Kinda short, I know...but it seemed like a nice place to end n.n


	13. Up In Smoke

Sorry for the delay! Aside from trying to update AMity Invasion, I've hit a huge writer's block, and once November rolls around I'll be dealing with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). This fic is just about complete, by the way.

**The Origins of Danny Phantom**

**By FlikFreak**

**Part Thirteen: Up In Smoke**

**

* * *

**Sam was heading home from the book store quietly. The book she was looking forward to pre-ordering was completely sold out, and thus she was left to come back another day. She decided earlier to pay a visit to Danny's place to see if he was feeling alright, but Jazz had informed him that he had gone somewhere, and thus the Goth was left to her own devices for the rest of the day. It wasn't until she glanced up idly at the sky that she knew something was wrong.

There was smoke rising from the harbor not far from where she was. Curious, Sam headed closer to investigate, only to find that one of the warehouses was going up in flames. A sudden roar caught her attention; it was inhuman and somehow familiar. Eyes widening, she raced for the nearest pay phone to dial an emergency number. Once placing her call, she rang up Tucker as quickly as she could.

"_Tucker Foley speakin'."_

"Tucker, it's Sam."

"_Sam? You okay? You don't sound too good."_

"I'm at the harbor," Sam replied frantically. "One of the warehouses is on fire and I have a bad feeling that Danny's inside."

"_You've gatta be kidding."_

"I'm not. Get over here as fast as you can."

Tucker didn't reply, but the phone did click and Sam knew her friend was on his way. She returned her gaze to the harbor and raced forward toward the burning building, stopping just short of a few yards.

* * *

Danny felt himself being flung across the room, slamming into the wall behind him and nearly shattering through it. As both he and pieces of the wall fell to the ground, Danny scampered up and dove to the side as an invisible, whip-like tail lashed out and smashed into the floor where he once stood. The flames singed the hair on the back of his neck, and several shelves nearby fell from their spot on the wall and crashed downward.

"Give up, boy," the snake taunted, baring its fangs. "You're not powerful enough to defeat me. I shall destroy you here, and leave you to burn…"

"Someone once told me not to doubt myself," Danny grumbled, his eyes narrowing to slits, "I'm not about to forget that. I can beat you. I _will_ beat you before you hurt anyone else." _The problem is, how can I see him? Fire generates light, and with light he's invisible again…_

The smoke in the air shifted curiously, and moments later Danny felt himself being lifted off the ground and slammed into the wall. "Did you think you could run from me?!"

Danny clenched his teeth, forcing intangibility to get out of the snake's grip and then invisibility to soar to the other side of the warehouse. _Thank goodness this place is big,_ he observed, looking behind him and noticing the displaced smoke where he had flown. Like a brick wall it struck him. _Of course! He may be invisible, but he can't stop the smoke from moving around him unless he goes intangible._

Watching carefully, Danny waited for the creature to move. It hissed angrily and shifted his way. As the smoke became displaced, Danny marked his target and flew forward, slamming a fist into the creature's chin and sending it flying backward into a pile of boxes. He grinned. _This just got a lot easier…_

_

* * *

_Tucker's scooter screeched to a stop in front of a burning warehouse. Sam immediately took notice and rushed toward the technogeek, gladly making way for the fire trucks that would soon come. "Where's Danny?" Tucker asked frantically. "I called his house, but Jazz said he wasn't there.

"He wasn't there when I went either," Sam replied. "But when I looked I saw his window was open. I have a weird feeling that he's in there." She pointed to the burning warehouse nearby.

"Why would he be in there?" Tucker asked.

"He's not at the usual places," Sam explained. "Plus I heard a weird roar coming from inside. I think it was that thing that beat him up yesterday."

"And he's in there fighting it?! How can he fight what he can't see?"

Sam's gaze fell to her feet as the whining of sirens finally reached their ears. "I don't know. I just hope he makes it out safely."

* * *

"You are clever," the snake commented, "But you are no match for me. I will destroy you here and your threat with you!"

"Threat?" Danny echoed. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, of course," the taunt came, "You aren't a true ghost, you wouldn't know the legend of the Halfa."

"Care to inform me?"

The response came in a sudden tail swipe that pinned him against the wall. "I don't see why not," the beast replied. "After all, it will be the last thing you hear before I kill you, so it's fine. There are legends that a Halfa will appear before us, and wreak chaos and destruction. We ghosts also know that the future of Phantom is nothing but pain, but with him gone we have one less threat to worry about: you."

"I don't care about wreaking destruction or anything!" Danny wheezed. "I just want to keep my friends safe!"

"True," The snake hissed. "They say that there is another Halfa hiding out there, but he didn't seem to want anything to do with us. You are the only other Halfa in existence, and thus the threat. I shall eliminate you here and destroy any destruction you may wreak upon us."

Danny gritted his teeth. So he wasn't the only one like this. Though, by the way the monster spoke, the other 'halfa' was probably long gone, or they had already dealt with him in some form or manner. Snapping back to attention, he watched as the smoke swirled about the beast's invisible head quickly phased out of the grip, watching the ground smash in. He sent a kick flying toward the crater, and an angry roar arose from the beast.

"You are wasting your time!" The beast bellowed. "I was going to kill you _quickly_ to save you suffering, but now I shall give you a slow and _painful_ death!"

"Not if I can help it," Danny replied, slamming a fist right between the beast's eyes. Ignoring the screech of pain, he continued. "I'm not trying to hurt _anyone_, but if you're going to hurt _me_ or _any_ of my friends I won't hold back!"

The snake-like beast tore its head from the ground and roared angrily, flapping its drachen wings and sending the flames in Danny's direction. Intangibility quickly solved the problem, but Danny was soon faced with dealing with the beast's anger. Deciding not to hold off any longer, he picked up a nearby broken shelf (he was suddenly glad to have inhuman strength; the metal object was much heavier than it looked) and hurled it into the monster, pinning it against the far wall of the room. He wasted no time in flying in that direction and pulling out the Fenton Thermos strapped to his back.

The snake struggled, but did not succeed in freeing itself. Instead, it seemed to glare in disbelief at the ghost-boy. "Urgh…who are you, child?"

Danny smirked. "The name's Danny. Danny _Phantom_." With that, he opened the thermos and sucked the invisible beast inside. A screech of shock escaped the snake before it became sealed in the cylindrical device, which Danny quickly resealed. Once sure that the cap was secure, Danny made to fly out of the burning building when a flash of light blinded him momentarily. Glancing down at his hands, he realized that he had gone back to being completely human.

As he made a mad dash for the exit, the roof above began to crumble down on top of him.


End file.
